Second Chance
by Newbie1104
Summary: Shirou Emiya managed to destroy a Fake Holy Grail at the cost of losing his life. As it was dissolving, he carelessly speak out loud his last wish, which was then granted by the remnant of an imperfect Grail. As a result, Shirou was pulled into another world, and ultimately, given a second chance to fulfill his wish. AU.
1. Prologue

****I want to give my special thanks to souvikkundu0017, who had made a big contribution for the story, regarding information about Nasuverse. I'm very grateful for his support.****

**For now, please enjoy.**

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office, head in his hands. Never before had the old wizard ever felt so weary and lost like he was tonight. Sighing for what might be the hundredth time, he looked up and started to think about how things could have gone so wrong in just one night. Whether the boy would be able to overcome this or not was still unknown at the moment. But there was no reason not to be prepared for the worst, especially after what Dumbledore himself had witnessed after arriving at the scene.

"Albus!" With a loud noise, the door to his office burst open, and his Deputy Headmistress – Minerva McGonagall dashed in, confusion and fear transparent on her face. She was still in her night gown with a coat draped hastily over her shoulder, her hair uncombed and her face almost drained of blood, which Dumbledore knew would get even worse after she heard what he had to say.

"Albus. What happened to the boy?" McGonagall asked as she approached his desk. "You sent your phoenix to me in the middle of the night saying that Harry Potter is in critical condition without any explanation..."

"Please, Minerva," Dumbledore waved his hand tiredly. "I'm about to give you an explanation right now if you would let me. Please take a seat. It looks like Severus had also arrived."

Indeed he had, the mentioned Potion Master was making his way through the door with haste. His expression wasn't very different from that of McGonagall.

"Albus!" Even his opening speech was the same. "Please tell me you got there on time. I saw hundreds Dementors heading that way after informing you about..."

"Please take a seat, Severus, and let me speak," Dumbledore politely signaled to the empty chair next to McGonagall with a tired but sharp voice. Snape, after eyeing him for a moment, got closer and sat down reluctantly.

"Thank you," The Headmaster heaved a sigh and looked straight at the two teachers in front of him, regarding them for a moment before beginning his explanation. "Minerva, tonight, Sirius Black has been found in the castle's ground. Harry Potter was with him."

"Sirius Black?" McGonagall gasped. "He...He finally managed to get to the boy? Was that why..."

"No he didn't," shaking his head to reassure the witch, Dumbledore then continued. "Severus here had spotted and followed them into a secret passage way leads to the Shrieking Shack. However, he was stunned. After waking up, he was only able to find Miss Granger and Mister Weasley and brought them back to the castle before reporting to me."

"But… How about Potter? What happened to the boy?"

Giving his Deputy Headmistress an apologetic look, Dumbledore continued his story.

"What really happened was unknown at the moment. However, when I found them, both Black and Harry were being surrounded by Dementors. Black was unconscious, and was now being kept inside the Astronomy Tower. He wasn't kissed though, that much I can be sure. Harry, on the other hand..."

"No..." The reaction from McGonagall was something Dumbledore couldn't even imagine seeing. The rest of the blood drained from her face as she murmured in horror at the implication. On her side, Snape's face remained stoic. However, Dumbledore could see the emotion in his eyes, something he wasn't able to clearly define.

"He is also unconscious in the Hospital Wing right now. Whether or not he was kissed, we couldn't be sure. That has to wait until he wakes up. If he ever does."

"That...That can't be true, Albus..." McGonagall stuttered. She didn't want to believe it, and Dumbledore completely understand, as he also felt the same. They shouldn't abandon hope, no matter how small it was.

"Like I said, we can't know that, not right now. The reason I've called you two here is to ask for your assistance. Until we know exactly what happened to the boy, we can't let what happened, or his condition, be known to anyone else. This is very important, given who he is. You understand, right?"

The two teachers nodded in unison, though from McGonagall's expression, he could see that she still couldn't believe all of that had just happened.

"And I mean it, even Miss Granger and Mister Weasley are _not _to be informed of this. That's everything for now. I want to have a talk with Sirius Black before Fudge came over and get his version of the event. Hopefully we can have more insight on what really happened. Severus, please bring your strongest dose of Veritaserum to the Astronomy Tower. I and Minerva will see you there."

With a curt nod, Snape stood up and swiftly left the room. Dumbledore and McGonagall also left their seats.

"If anything happen to the boy. I'll so kill Black even before the Dementors get to do their job," the witch murmured in anger.

"And I'm not sure if I can stop you, my dear professor," Dumbledore replied in a weary voice as they headed to the door.

_This is going to be a long night… _The old wizard thought solemnly.

* * *

Shirou Emiya dragged his battered body across the large clearing in an underground cave. He had done it. He had defeated Servant Caster and his Master in this Fake Holy Grail War, and was now facing the root of all this, the cause of what he was sure was his final battle, as he could feel the energy leaving him.

The Fake Holy Grail War, an imitation of Fuyuki's Grail System, reconstructed by a group of magus in Germany. They had been dealt with, but their creation was still there, and the War erupted without warning. However, to Shirou, it was a lucky stroke, without the time or knowledge to prepare beforehand, this Fake war wasn't able to reach the violence degree of Fuyuki's Fourth War.

Technically, Shirou himself wasn't a Master, as he didn't have a Servant to begin with. He caught wind of the War from his connections with the Clock Tower's Enforcers and hastily got to Germany in order to sabotage it. More than most people, Shirou had experienced first hand the nightmare an artifact like the Holy Grail could bring, and he had to make sure that it wouldn't happen again.

Looking at the Grail in front of him, Shirou knew that it wasn't tainted, something he had learned about the Fuyuki Grail after the War. But for all he knew, it wasn't completed either, and could very well be dangerous in its own way. Even if it _was _a perfect wish granting machine, then it would still be the object of many, if not all, magi's desire. It was evident that people would kill and do unimaginable things to become its owner.

_For that reason. It must be destroyed, _he thought as he got closer to it. The last fight had almost drained him. It wasn't easy to take on a Master and her Servant at the same time, but somehow he had managed it. Shirou had to admit that a sneak Caladbolg II shot helped greatly in weakening Caster as he shielded his Master, but the rest of the fight wasn't a walk in the park. He had had to finished off the Servant as quickly as possible before he healed, all the while dealing with the interference of a full fledged magus, who was also powerful in her own right.

_And now it's just me and this cursed thing… _He chuckled. After the fight, he was heavily wounded. But there was no need to heal up, though it could easily be done with a quick trace of Avalon. Shirou had already decided that this would be his last battle, and he was going to die soon. He didn't need to treat his wounds. All of his remaining energy would be needed if he was going to destroy the Fake Grail once and for all, as there was no Saber around this time to do it for him.

"Trace...on!" With a gentle smile at the memory of the graceful King of Knights, Shirou murmured, and a switch was flipped within his body, letting his od once again fill the Magic Circuits. He then traced the most powerful sword he had in his arsenal – the Caliburn.

There was no deny that it was a very captivating sword. No matter how many time he looked at it, Shirou still couldn't help but admire its beauty and the light it emitted, even now, right before he was about to sacrifice himself by using it with all the power he had.

Raising the sword above his head, Shirou then looked at the Fake Grail with determination. Without wasting any more time, he started to focus his od into his final attack.

"CA..." As the first word was said, the sword recognized the order and accepted his od. It then started to glow brighter and brighter. The energy it produced was enough to distort the air around Shirou. Then, without warning, the rest of his od was rapidly sucked out through his Circuits, making him feel like he was being burned from inside. Cold sweat was now covered Shirou's face and his legs started shaking, but he tried his best to hold on. Just a few more seconds, when the sword gathered enough prana, it would be all over.

"...LIBURN!" Shirou shouted the rest of the sword's name as he felt the last drop of od left his body. He swung it down as hard as he could, watching in amazement as it released the blinding light toward the Fake Grail. The power of the attack shook the entire cave. It could very well collapse, but all of that didn't even matter anymore.

After the light had somewhat faded, Shirou checked again and a contended smile formed on his lips. The Fake Grail had been broken and was slowly dissolving. There was something leaking out of it, but not the tainted black stuff of the Fuyuki Grail. It was something else.

_Does it really matter though? _ He wondered but didn't really seek an answer. Shirou then fell on his knees as the Caliburn in his hand disappeared. Understandable, he had no energy left to maintaining its appearance in this world. It didn't matter, since there was no need for the sword to be here anymore. It was time to let Gaia do her job.

_At least I didn't turn out like Archer, _in his last moment, Shirou entertained himself with the thought. He had known what future had in store for him if he went down that route. Thanks to Rin, he had somewhat got rid of his suicidal mindset. But that didn't mean it couldn't act up sometimes, like just a moment ago for example. Shirou didn't regret it though, as his death was able to prevent much more tragedies later on. Who knows what would happen if this wretched War was allowed to repeat over and over again, each times more violent and prepared than the previous?

_Hmp? But I wonder if the World itself would offer me a contract like it did with EMIYA, would I accept it? _Shirou snorted dryly, as the answer came to him just a second later. It would be crazy to accept that deal. He knew better than anybody else but the Counter Guardians themselves, what he would be forced to do if he were to become one of them. That, however, didn't mean he was entirely satisfied with this ending though. Shirou was happy to be able to destroy the Grail, even if it meant giving up his life. But there was still a tingle of regret in the back of his mind, telling him that it would be the end of his dream as well. There would be no more saving people after this moment. As he closed his eyes and let himself fall down, it would be all over.

"I just wish to be able to continue my dream..." Shirou murmured his wish even without realizing what he was saying, but quickly disregarded it. There was no use dwelling on that anymore. He had made his choice, and the result was perfect. So what was there to complain?

But again, he wouldn't be Shirou Emiya if everything could just happen normally around him.

As soon as the wish left his mouth, Shirou instantly realized that he had made an irreversible mistake. Before he knew it, the stuff from the Fake Grail had coiled themselves around him, wrapping around his arms and legs and starting making their way up.

"Wha..." Shirou's eyes shot up with horror as he stared at the dissolving Fake Grail. Apparently, even in that state, it was still trying to perform its duty, to grant the wish of the last survival. Since the last legitimate Master had been struck down, Shirou was the only one left with a wish in its presence.

Struggling as hard as he could, Shirou tried to get himself out of it, but it was of no use. The stuff was now up to his chest, and he had no strength left to escape. After a few seconds, with a final heavy sigh, Shirou resigned to his fate and gave up, allowing himself to be swallowed by the remnant of the Fake Holy Grail.

_What could possibly happen? I was going to die anyway… _Was his last thought before Shirou closed his eyes. His consciousness started fading. At least, he was glad that whatever was happening to him, it wasn't painful or uncomfortable.

* * *

A very long while later, or at least that was how he felt it, Shirou finally opened his eyes again, and the first thing he saw was the white ceiling of an unfamiliar room. A moment later, he realized that he was laying on some kind of bed with a soft blanket pulled up to his neck. Also, for some reason, everything in front of him was all blurry.

"What the… Where in the root am I?..." Shirou murmured, trying to sit up to get a better view of his surrounding. He let out a groan as his body ached at the effort. However, his vision was still bad even after sitting up and he couldn't make out anything. Lucky for him, that was easily solved with a bit of Reinforcement applied. It did make Shirou wonder what happened to his vision though.

"You're in the Hospital Wing, Harry. It's such a relief to see you finally wake up," a voice at the side of his bed made Shirou jumped in surprise.

"Hospital Wing?" He blinked in surprise, looking at a very ancient man sitting next to his bed. He was old, very old, with long white hair and an impressive set of beard. On his nose was a pair of half-moon glasses and he was wearing a long, purple robe which resemble what Shirou usually saw back at the Clock Tower, only it was designed more...uniquely.

"I'm not dead yet?" Shirou asked again and noticed that his voice had also been altered. He sounded younger, much younger, just like a teenage. But his throat was also so dry. Maybe that was the reason.

"Dead?" The old man raised an eyebrow. "No you're not, Harry. Well, we all thought you were. But now you're awake, everything is going to be fine."

"Did you just call me 'Harry'?"

That question managed to pull a grimace out of the man. He leaned closer to examine Shirou, which made him a bit uncomfortable. The man showed no sign of hostile though. If he did, even just a little, Shirou would've traced the first sword that came to his mind to defend himself already.

"You… don't remember your name?" Finally he asked.

"Of course I do," Shirou stared at the man, confused. "But it's not Harry. My name's Shirou Emiya."

He then raised his hand to scratch his head, but immediately noticed something odd. Shirou frantically pulled u both of his hands and stared at them in horror.

_They're not mine, _he thought. _No, of course they're mine now, since I'm controlling them and all, but..."_

Hastily flipping the blanket over and jumping off of his bed, Shirou made for the nearest mirror and looked into it. What he saw shocked him deeply.

Inside the mirror, a young teenage boy, no more than fourteen years old, was staring back at him. He was a bit short with a slim frame and messy black hair. The most noticeable features of him was his clear green eyes and a lighting bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

Couldn't believe in what he was seeing, Shirou raised a hand to touch his face, the boy in the mirror did the same. He then pinched himself hard to see if he wasn't dreaming, but the pain reminded him that it was indeed real. Apparently, the boy was also mimicking Shirou as he rubbed the sore spot as well.

_What the hell does this mean? _He wondered, still couldn't take his eyes off the reflection in the mirror. Then as the recent memories came back and hit him, Shirou finally understood what had happened.

"The Fake Grail..." He grunted angrily. He didn't know exactly what it had done to him. Give him a new body? Or simply placing his soul into another body? Or something else even more sinister?. All he knew was it had done so to grant his last wish – to be able to continue his dream of saving people. It sounded like a good thing. However, Shirou's experience with the Holy Grail was telling him that it was too good to be true. Every wish came with a price. And right now, after figuring it out, Shirou started to see what could possibly be that 'price'.

_Did I just take over the body of that 'Harry' boy? Did I kill him? _He grimaced, but then another thought came up. _Hold on, according to what the old man said. He _thought _'Harry' had died. What if he had really died and I'd taken over his soulless body?_

That was definitely a lighter thought. Of course, it was still awful and was an inhuman thing to do, but still better than killing off the host to take over the body. That didn't mean it didn't make Shirou want to vomit as he thought of it, unfortunately.

"You can see clearly without your glasses?" Behind him, the old man asked again.

"I can," slowly turning back to him, Shirou answered. For now, it was best to figure out more about his situation by talking with that man. "The eyes itself are still bad though. This 'Harry' must be short-sighted or something. I had enhanced it a little to be able to look around."

"You say you're not Harry Potter? No, of course you're not. Harry wouldn't be able to enhance his eyes," the old man stated. There was now an edge in his voice, and Shirou could see that his hand had already prepared to pull out something, maybe a weapon, from under his robe.

"You're right. I'm not," Shirou nodded, eyeing him carefully. "Like I said, my name is Shirou Emiya."

"So what happened to the real Harry Potter?" The man asked in a cautious voice. "Rather, what have you done to him?"

"I have no idea," Shirou replied coldly. "That was also what I wanted to ask myself. I know how I got here. But I don't know why I ended up inside this 'Harry' boy."

Staring at him for a moment, the man finally pulled out what he had been hiding. It turned out to be a little piece of wood, a wand to be exact. Shirou reacted to the sudden movement. In a blink of an eye, Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in his grip and his body was reinforced, ready for any kind of attack.

However, the man didn't attack him. Instead, he just waved his arm and murmured some complex incantation., making the surrounding air shake a little before he settled down and put away his wand.

"What did you just do?" Shirou asked, glancing around suspiciously.

"Just some private charms so that we can talk without being overheard. And yes, I've had my doubt, but it's cleared now. You're certainly not Harry Potter. Wandless conjuration isn't something a student can do with ease like you just did."

"Really?" Shirou's eyebrows shot up. "Projection is the basic of basic. Who have you been learning your craft from?"

That actually earned him a snort from the old man. However, Shirou realized something else.

"Hold on, you called it 'wandless conjuration'. I take it using a wand is common here? Where are we anyway?"

"This is Hogwarts, the school of Wizardly and Witchcraft," the man answered. "And by the way, I'm Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of this school. And I don't think it need to say it, but that's the body of my student that you're using."

"Sorry for the trouble, I guess," Shirou returned the snort, despite himself finding absolutely nothing funny in the situation. "But I've never heard of the name Hogwarts. Where's this school located?"

"It's in Scotland," Dumbledore looked at him with interest. "From your name, I take it you're from Asia? Maybe that's why you've never heard about us before."

"I'm Japanese, yes," Shirou nodded. "But I've been in England for two years and had been traveling a lot. There's no way I haven't heard of a school like this, considering how close it is to the Clock Tower's influence."

"The Clock Tower? I'm afraid I haven't heard of such organization. Mind you, I've been living for over a hundred years and had my fair share of knowledge and connections."

Until this point, Shirou had had a fairly good idea of where he had been pulled into. He sighed heavily and let his blades disappeared into thin air.

_That goddamned Grail, _he silently cursed. This was another world, another dimension. It was the best explanation Shirou could pull out of his head right now. 'Magecraft' that mostly used wand, an unheard 'Wizard' academy. Heck, even the way they put the 'wizard' in the title suggested something seriously out of place. And most of all, what living magus hadn't heard of the Clock Tower? Unless they were raised in the mountain from birth and cut off from civilization, which the old man there clearly wasn't.

"Alright, Emiya, is it? May I call you that?" Dumbledore's voice pulled Shirou out of his thought. He then continued after receiving a nod. "Emiya, it's clear that you're still confused. I as well. But I can offer you my thought and a bit of explanation to clear it up a little, as long as you do the same."

"Sounds good to me, sir..." Shirou answered but was interrupted.

"Please, none of this 'sir' business, just call me Albus."

"Then please do the same and call me Shirou," he replied and Dumbledore nodded, smiling gently.

"Right, Shirou. Allow me to tell you about 'Harry' first. There's a long story behind the boy, but let's focus on what happened to him recently. Have you ever heard of 'Dementors'?"

Shirou shook his head slowly.

"Just as I thought," Dumbledore sighed and proceeded to give him an explanation of what exactly were the 'Dementors'. Shirou couldn't stop himself from shivering in disgust at the descriptions of the vile creature. He then continued to hear the Headmaster's story of the night a serial killer named Sirius Black broke into the castle and how he and Harry Potter were surrounded by hundreds of those soul-sucking monsters.

"…Anyway. The last time I've seen Harry Potter, if my eyes didn't trick me, he was being kissed by one of them," Dumbledore said heavily. The twinkling light in his eyes had disappeared. "I had hoped that I was wrong. But after seeing you here, in his body..."

"I'm sorry," Shirou said, looking at him apologetically. "Your story cleared up a lot, especially when combined with my side of the story. My knowledge was limited, and I don't know anything about how the magic of this world work, but from what I guess, this 'Harry' boy is already dead, or at least had his soul sucked out that night. Otherwise, I should have felt more resistance from him as my own soul tried to enter this body. Until now, I haven't felt anything at all."

"That was what I feared. I've been observing you, looking for signs of resistance, but nothing showed," Dumbledore sighed, looking even older than he already was. Understandable though, his last hope had just been robbed from him. Shirou didn't know what his relationship with the boy was, but it was by no mean a normal teacher-student one.

"Please, tell me your side of the story," after awhile, Dumbledore looked up and said. Shirou then started to tell him about his theory of alternate worlds, about the Holy Grail and Holy Grail Wars, original and fake. He told him about how he ended up in the last War and sacrificed himself to destroy the wretched thing, and finally, how he foolishly muttered a wish right in front of it, knowing it hadn't completely dissolved yet.

"A very intriguing story, I must admit," after he had finished, Dumbledore had once again been looking at him with apparent interest. "All of this about alternate worlds, and wish-granting creations, are all aspects of magic that we haven't managed to create ourselves. I agree with you though, the latter shouldn't even be created in the first place. Now with the circumstance cleared, I have to ask. What is your plan from now on, Shirou?"

"I'm not sure," Shirou shook his head. "To be honest, taking over the body of a dead person makes me uncomfortable, and that was putting it very lightly. On the other hand, the Fake Grail had granted my wish of 'saving people', means I was given this body to do exactly that. And that's what I will do. But how? I have no idea at the moment."

Looking at the old man in front of him, Shirou could see that he was still devastated. However, for a moment, he thought that a glimpse of hope appeared within his twinkling eyes as he said.

"I can't say I understand how you feel, Shirou. And from what we've talked about, I'm sure that there are still a lot more to be discussed that couldn't be done tonight. So how about you remain here? You can continue living here as Harry Potter. There's something else I should tell you. The boy is very famous here, and it would be a fatal blow for this society if he were to die now. The reason, we will get to later as it's a very long story. I believe that was also the answer for how you can 'save people' here in this world."

"But… it feels wrong," Shirou looked away bitterly. "I've already taken his body, now also his name and his life? It's just..."

"I won't force you into it. But just think about it for the time being. I believe that by doing so, you can save this society from what I said – a fatal blow that could lead to a very, very dark time of war and tyranny."

"I...I'll consider it," he muttered, gritting his teeth. Never before had he felt so angry with himself. Of course, being able to save people was a wonderful thing. but certainly not like this. Why did he have to be so stupid to spew out that last wish? If only he could just keep his mouth shut…

"Thank you," Dumbledore bowed gratefully. "But don't beat yourself over it. What has been done is done, you can't change that. It's getting late, you should get some rest. I'll tell everybody to leave you alone for tonight, so there's no need to be afraid of unnecessary questions. By tomorrow morning we will meet in my office and discuss this further. Even if you don't accept living as Harry Potter, I'm sure we can arrange something else. But like I said..."

"I understand," Shirou nodded dryly, still not looking at the old man.

"Then, see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Shirou," Dumbledore then waved his wand again to cancel the privates charms he put up earlier and left the room, leaving Shirou alone, thinking over all what had happened.

_That's why I despite the Holy Grail, _he thought angrily. _What the hell is 'Holy' in this mess anyway?_

* * *

Leaving the Hospital Wing and heading back to his quarter, Dumbledore was having his own confused thoughts. He was destroyed by the death of Harry Potter. He had failed the boy, from the day he left him in front of his relatives' doorstep, and now he couldn't protect him, even in his own school. The old Headmaster couldn't fight back the tear as he blamed himself to agree to have the Dementors standing by around in the first place.

But all is not lost. Despite his personal feelings, there was still hope for the Wizarding World in the upcoming and inevitable war, as long as that Shirou Emiya agreed to live his life as Harry Potter. Dumbledore would do his best to convince him. Given what he had heard of how selfless Shirou was, it wouldn't be very difficult.

_And there's the prophecy, _Dumbledore thought to himself. Now that he had calmed down and considered it, the prophecy could be interpreted this way too. Maybe, just maybe, that Shirou Emiya had the 'power he knows not'? He had displayed excellent conjuration ability and wandless magic, not to mention a very good reflex that spoke of serious training and experience. Most of all, he was using a completely different kind of magic, that could very well be what the prophecy meant. Besides, if his original theory was right, who said Shirou couldn't love? Finally, even though his soul wasn't Harry Potter, but that body was still 'born as the seventh month dies'. The only problem was that it wasn't the Dark Lord himself who gave him those abilities or brought him here. But if Dumbledore could find the answer to that final puzzle…

_That's right. We should not abandon hope, _the Headmaster told himself as he mentally prepared for his meeting with Shirou the following morning. He was sure that there would be a lot for them to talk about. Luckily, the summer vacation was approaching. And that meant there would be more time to prepare for the future without the risk of exposing Shirou Emiya to the student body too soon.

**-End of Chapter 1-**


	2. A New Harry Potter

The next morning, Shirou woke up feeling a bit tired. It was obvious that his exhaustion couldn't be completely healed in just a couple hours of sleep. Moreover, his neck was now aching badly, indicating that he had somehow slept in a bad posture the night before.

"Ow ow ow," groaning lightly, Shirou tried to massage his neck a little. That helped somewhat ease the pain. As he turned to his side, Shirou noticed that his breakfast had already been set up properly on the nightstand next to his bed. It was simple enough, consisting of toasts, egg and sausages, all on a silver plate.

_Okay, maybe the silver plate is not really 'simple', _Shirou shrugged, looking at the meal. He wasn't really hungry, but it just didn't sit well with him to waste perfectly good food.

_Especially when it's well cooked like this, _he silently complimented the chef as he took the first bite of the sausage.

About half an hour later, Shirou had already finished his meal and noticed a set of tattered, old and oversized shirt and jeans that had been prepared for him beforehand. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of life this 'Harry' was leading for him to own clothing that was obviously not fit for him like that. Shirou himself wasn't a fashionable person, that much he could admit as he always chose a piece of clothing based on its efficiency in combat situations before anything else. However, even by that regard, those shirt and jeans he was holding definitely wasn't fit in at all.

With a sigh, Shirou started changing. That was when he really saw his new body for the first time, and it reminded him greatly how this wasn't his real one, but one he'd taken from another. That thought made him cringe a little, and wonder if he could ever got past the disgust feeling that was swelling up in his chest.

On the other hand, it also meant he had got another life, another chance to follow his dream. Besides, even if Shirou was just a third rate one, wasn't a magus suppose to make use of everything available to him?

_That isn't comforting in the least, Shirou, _sighing again, he finally decided to just accept it for now, no matter how wrong it was since he really didn't have much of a choice. Once again focusing on the upper body, it wasn't hard for Shirou to spot several scars of all kind. Getting off his bed and standing in front of the mirror to look at his back, he found at least five or six others there as well.

_Damn, _he grimaced at the sight. It was disheartening to imagine just what had been done to the boy to cause those scars. Of course, they weren't something Avalon couldn't heal. But Shirou still made a mental note to do a throughout 'Structure Analysis' on himself later on when he got the chance.

Suddenly, a flame erupted behind him making Shirou instantly turned around, Kanshou and Bakuya had already in his hands. In front of him now was a gentle looking flame bird. It was looking at him curiously. But it managed to surprise Shirou even more when it dropped a letter down to his feet.

Still eyeing the bird carefully, Shirou slowly bent down and picked up the piece of parchment and read the content.

_Shirou,_

_I'm sorry for disturbing you so early, but I believe we have much to discuss. So please come to my office as soon as you can. My phoenix, Fawkes will bring you here. All you have to do is to grab its tail. Please be gentle._

_Albus Dumbledore._

It was a short note. After finished reading, Shirou perked up and look at the bird in front of him again.

"A phoenix, eh?" He murmured. "Aren't you a beautiful one?"

Fawkes gave him a hoot, which could be understood as its agreement on his statement. Shirou chuckled lightly before coming around and take hold of its tail.

"Well, let's not keep the Headmaster waiting then. I also have lots of questions that need to be answered."

The two of them then disappeared in a swift flash of fire.

* * *

"Welcome to my office, Shirou," Dumbledore greeted Shirou as he reappeared a moment later in a large room surrounded by many portraits and a collection of weird silver tools making strange noises.

"Thank you," Shirou nodded before taking another glance at Fawkes. The phoenix had returned to its post near the Headmaster's desk. "That certainly is an interesting way to travel."

"Not to mention very convenient, yes," Dumbledore smiled brightly. "Now why don't you take a seat. I would like to start right away as we have many issues that need to be addressed."

"I'm sure we do, Dumbledore," he replied politely before sitting down in front of the old wizard. "About your request the night before, I can accept it. But I need to hear your reason first. Who really is Harry Potter, and what role does he play in this world that his death can affect the entire society?

"A reasonable question," the Headmaster nodded. "Well, I take it you haven't heard of the name Voldemort?"

* * *

For almost an hour, Shirou sat and listen to Dumbledore's explanation of Harry Potter and his involvement in the Wizarding World's affairs. Here and there he posed his own questions for the better understanding of the boy. After hearing everything, Shirou had been able to understand just why he was so important. Basically, Harry was a hero who vanquished the most cruel Dark Lord of all time, and had become a symbol of some kind.

"An interesting story," he said. "However I fail to see how his death could have such a strong effect as you claimed. Sure, it's going to be a shock for the society. And the one who responsible to those Dementors will have to to face the consequences. But 'a dark time of war and tyranny'?"

"But here's the catch, Shirou," Dumbledore replied, looking straight at him. "Personally, I think, no, I know Lord Voldemort is _not _dead, and he will come back to resume his reign of power. His body may have been destroyed that night in Godric Hollow. But his soul is still lingering in this world, waiting to be resurrected."

"And just how do you know all about that?"

"I've seen the evidences of his soul possessing another person. If you please remember the events of Harry's first and second year here at Hogwarts," the Headmaster sighed at the uncomfortable memory. "He might be imperfect, for now. But Voldemort will be back, I'm sure of it."

"I'm sorry, Albus. But even if you're right, why are you relying on a what… thirteen years old child to be your hero against that Voldemort?" Shirou frowned deeply. It might be Harry's luck and his mother's love – as Dumbledore explained and Shirou didn't really buy – that the boy was able to defeat the Dark Lord before he even knew how to talk. But just because of that, the man here was expecting him to repeat the miracle? That was just sick and unacceptable.

"I have my reasons, Shirou," Dumbledore told him. "And never think for a second that I enjoy doing that. You have to understand that the boy was special. He was..."

"The Chosen One?" Shirou mocked with a sneer. "What is this? A fairy tale?"

"Not a fairy tale. But yes, in a sense, he _was_ the Chosen One."

"Oh right, was, because he's here no longer. All because someone decided that it was a cute idea to have soul-sucking monsters guarding a school full of children," Shirou spat out while eyeing the Headmaster in disgust. "And was that your reason, Albus? Because he was the Chosen One? And now because I've taken up his appearance, that responsibility falls on me, a stranger and outsider of all of this mess? What kind of logic is that?"

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he finally managed to suppress his rising anger and continued, in a more peaceful tone.

"Don't misunderstand me. If I were to be in his position, which I am now, I'd have no object if it was to help stopping a tyrant. But that's the problem, I'm an adult, and he's just a child. Not that there's any use of talking about that now. But to be honest, that gave me an impression of your character, Albus. And not a very good one."

In front of him, Dumbledore just sat there, and stare at his face. Once again, the merry light in his eyes had disappeared, replaced by an unspeakable sadness. Shirou thought that maybe he had been a bit harsh with the Headmaster, that having the Dementors here wasn't his choice, and that he truly regret about Harry Potter's death. But still, making a child to be a hero, a savior of an entire society, was just cruel and wrong, no matter what the reason behind such action was.

"I have nothing to say to defend my actions," finally, Dumbledore said dejectedly. "I just ask for your help. This world, the British Wizarding society, has many flaws. Flaws that render it unable to take on another war in such a short time, and will eventually lead to its doom."

"And how can I help?" Shirou sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Seriously, like I said, I'm not afraid to take on a role to help people. I was just disgusted with your way of doing things. However, Harry was the Chosen One, as you put it, not me. What's the point of all this facade if the end result is inevitable? That without that boy you will all be doomed anyway?"

To his question, the old Headmaster just remained silent, fingers crossed in front of his face. After awhile, Shirou heaved out another sigh and threw his arms into the air.

"Alright, I'll act in your little play. That was what I've decided anyway. Chosen One or not, I just can't ignore this Voldemort if what you said about him returning was right."

"Thank you, Shirou. That's all I can ask," Dumbledore looked up at him and smiled gratefully.

"I didn't do it for you, Albus. Don't thanks me just yet," Shirou replied.

* * *

For the rest of the meeting, the two of them spent their time to sketch up a plan for Shirou to act in place of Harry Potter. Of course, a perfect play was impossible as there were too many memory holes that couldn't be filled by any mean. In the end, they decided that the best explanation would be that 'Harry' had lost some of his memories because of the trauma of the recent events, of the boy being surrounded by hundreds Dementors to be exact, as he had already been notorious of having extreme bad reactions in presence of those creatures.

Of course, which part of the memory was 'lost' had already been decided on. For instance, Shirou would have to remember the story of how Harry became famous, which was fairly easy, since he could just say he didn't remember any detail as he was just one year old at the time. Then his life with the abusive relatives, not very hard, since the original Harry Potter was a very private person. Shirou could avoid questions about that aspect without much problem. It would be easier just to declare that he had lost all of his memory. But doing so was basically saying 'Harry Potter is dead'.

The hard part of the plan was his knowledge of the Wizarding World, as well as his spells, skills and school related things. To partially deal with that trouble, Dumbledore decided that Shirou would need some quick private tutor sessions during the upcoming summer.

"For that reason, you will only have to live with the Dursleys for two week, to keep the ward around their house from falling," was what the Headmaster told him. "Use that time to memorize as much as you can about the boy, and if possible, Wizarding World culture. After that, you can move to a Wizarding family so you can get used to their way of life a little, and also to make it easier for me to visit and tutor you on basic spells that you might have to use frequently at school."

Shirou had no objection of those details as he also saw it was the quickest way to work. He knew that sooner or later, he would be forced to drop the play. The difference and sudden change in behaviors couldn't be covered forever. However, he hoped that by the time it happened, either he would be able to build another image of his own, or simply have just completed what he needed to do here, got rid of Voldemort, and left.

* * *

"Why does everything have to be so difficult around me?" Shirou groaned as he left the Hospital Wing the morning after his meeting with Dumbledore. For now, he needed to get to the Great Hall and have breakfast, before boarding the Hogwarts Express to return to the Dursleys' house. By this time, the Headmaster might have announced his 'conditions' for the entire school already. It was a good thing all of this happened right before summer vacation though.

_Speaking of vacation… _ Shirou knew that the months ahead of him was going to be weird. He was used to living by himself since he was just a kid. And now suddenly he had to live with some abusive people in a couple of weeks, before moving on another family who would take care of him. That was the weird part, ever since Kiritsugu died, no one had ever really taken care of him. At first, the image of Taiga appeared in his mind. But Shirou instantly snorted at the thought. If anything, it was more like he had always taken care of the hungry tiger instead of the other way around.

Lucky for him, the route to the Great Hall was quite easy to find with a little help from the school's nurse – Madam Pomfrey – who had insisted Shirou to stay and let her do one last throughout examination before releasing him. Thankfully, she didn't ask too many questions. But from their conversation, Shirou could see that this Harry boy was a frequent visitors to the Hospital Wing, which wasn't a surprise considering some of the stories Dumbledore had told him before.

Now that Shirou thought about it, it was the first time he ever walked the hallways of Hogwarts. They were spacious and beautiful in their own way, at least the main, big ones, and there were numerous of armors standing on both sides. The moving pictures and portraits were a nice surprise, but Shirou suppose that they would become a pain later on in case he needed to move around this place without being seen. On his way, there were several students passed by him, all wearing casual clothing. It made sense since this was their last day in school. What made him uncomfortable was that they kept staring at him, some subtly, some just outright gawked, even pointed at him and whispered between themselves.

_It's rude, kids, _Shirou thought, a bit annoyed at the newly received attention. He wasn't very used to handle fame. In the past, his 'Tracing' ability had given him quite a reputation amongst the Enforcers of the Clock Tower, but it was nowhere near the level of a celebrity.

About ten minutes later, Shirou finally reached the giant double doors led to the Great Hall. He stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath to prepare himself for whatever was waiting for him on the other side, then pushed the door and stepped in. Immediately, he was ambushed with the sight of a bushy haired girl dashing toward him, arms opened wide. It was as if she had been patiently waiting for that exact moment when he made his appearance.

However, Shirou reacted faster than her. He quickly sidestepped to dodge what could very well be a bone breaking hug, all the while holding out his arm to prevent her from falling flat on her face. He then looked down at the girl with a puzzled expression and asked without thinking.

"Who are you?"

If the situation had been different, that scene might be a little funny. But Shirou immediately realized that he had made a mistake again, seeing the girl hastily pulled herself straight up and took a few steps back. The heartbreaking expression on her face made Shirou's gut twisted painfully just from seeing it.

"So… it's true?" She asked sadly. "We've heard from professor Dumbledore but… you really forgot about us?"

Silence fell between the two of them. Shirou wanted to answer, but he didn't know what to say. He could feel the stare of the entire hall, watching their encounter. It was still annoying. However, facing the guilt of not being able to keep his mouth shut once again, it really didn't bother him that much anymore. Whoever that girl was, it was obvious that she was close with Harry Potter. There was no need for such an insensible question like 'Who are you?'. Unfortunately, what had been said couldn't be taken back.

"I'm sorry," finally, it was all he managed to mutter.

"No, you don't have to. It was us who have to apologize for letting you went off alone that night," she said quickly, giving him a teary smile before reaching out her hand. "I guess a reintroduction is In order then. I'm Hermione Granger. You and Ron Weasley saved me from a troll during our first year and us three have been friends ever since. Ron's waiting for you at the Gryffindor table. Come, I can show you."

Hesitating a little, Shirou then took her offered hand and let himself being led through the Hall toward one of the four long table reserved for students. Taking a glance around, he couldn't help but notice the obvious differences in the student uniforms of those who were sitting at each table.

_Must be the four Houses Dumbledore mentioned, _ he noted. He had been explained about the basic House system of Hogwarts, and that Harry Potter was sorted into Gryffindor house, the house of the braves, when he first arrived to the castle.

After reaching the table, Shirou noticed that Hermione purposely led him toward the other end, where a redhead boy was sitting and watching them anxiously. After the two of them sat down, he smiled nervously.

"Welcome back, mate. It's been a week since you were put into the Hospital Wing. We've tried to come and visit you several times but professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey were very strict about it, not even letting us have a look. Hermione was so worried, you know. Might be the first time I saw her lost focus during classes. We thought the Dementors had finally got your soul or something."

"Ron, don't even joke like that!" Hermione scolded the redhead, her eyes teared up a little making him gasp and quickly apologized. "Harry is our friends. Of course I'm worried about him."

Shirou watched the exchange between two of his supposed to be friends, unsure what to do. In the end he turned to Hermione and gave her a grateful smile.

"Thank you, Hermione. I might not remember it but I'm thankful. I'm blessed to have friends like you two."

To his relief, Hermione returned his smile wholeheartedly. However, seeing it didn't do much to ease the guilt he was feeling. The two of them were such good people, and here he was, lying to them about their friend's condition, even went as far as taking up his appearance and pretending to be him. He had to keep himself from shuddering thinking about how it would be if the secret was somehow leaked. It might be devastating to them both. Shirou had anticipated that things would be hard with Harry Potter's acquaintances. But there was a huge gap between expecting it and experiencing it first hand. The latter was definitely more unnerving and depressing.

Shaking his head to discard of those thoughts, deciding to follow through with his words no matter how difficult it might be, Shirou turned to the redhead.

"You must be Ron Weasley. I might not remember it, but I hope we can be friends again."

"So you really… Never mind," Ron shook his head and smiled. "I'm sure we can, mate. We clicked almost instantly on our first meeting. But… what do you still remember?" He lowered his voice and murmured at the last question.

"Ron, professor Dumbledore said no question. Harry needs time to sort things out before that," Hermione hissed from Shirou's other side. However, he waved her off.

"It's okay, Hermione. It's not a hard question. Besides, I think you two deserve that much at least."

It looked like the girl was about to retort, but finally decided against it. Shirou could tell that she was also curious about the topic, despite what she said. He gave her a smile before continuing.

"I don't remember much about the Wizarding World, to be honest. I remember who I am, name and background stuffs, and that I lived with my muggle relatives, as well as the reason why I have to live with them in the first place. But beside those, I can't recall anything else. Professor Dumbledore had filled me in on some basic things about Hogwarts and my years here. But it didn't help much, I'm afraid."

"Don't worry too much, mate. Whatever you need, I and Hermione can explain it for you," Ron nodded enthusiastically as he patted Shirou's back. "But please come to her when it comes to academic stuffs. She's like the smartest witch in this school."

"Really?" Shirou raised an eyebrow, looking at the girl next to him, whose face was reddening a little. "I must be very lucky to be your friend."

"Oh come on, Ron was just exaggerating it," Hermione smiled bashfully. "I just like to read a lot and good at memorizing things, that's all. Besides, those from Ravenclaws are also very smart."

"I'll keep that in mind," Shirou nodded as he took a look in the direction of the Ravenclaws students. Many of them were looking at his direction but immediately turned away as soon as they caught his gaze, and started whispering amongst themselves. The topic wasn't really hard to guess.

_Well, I guess gossip is part of any school, _he sighed heavily. At that moment, Dumbledore stood up and called for attention. After that, he started giving a short end of year speech, basically wishing them all an enjoyable summer vacation, while reminding them to do their homework and not to use magic outside of school.

The rest of the meal passed by peacefully with Ron telling Shirou about the trio's adventures and mischief during their last three years, with Hermione interrupted and corrected him every time he exaggerated something. Shirou couldn't help but be amazed by some of the things that those children managed to achieve. Despite their young age, they had faced off and survived against a giant troll, a nest full of giant spiders, or in case of Harry, against the remnant of the Dark Lord himself and a freaking Basilisk that could kill with its gaze alone.

"That's...crazy," Shirou commented. "Impressive, but crazy."

Of course, for someone who had been in two Holy Grail Wars, facing super human entities like Servants and Dead Apostles, those creatures were just small fries. But it was the fact that the heroes in those tales were just eleven or twelves years old children was what made them amazing. However, at the same time, Shirou couldn't help but wonder just what in the root was wrong with this school. From what he had heard, this was supposed to be one of the safest place in the entire Britain. If in said place, school children were in danger of exposing to such threats, he just couldn't imagine how it would be if it was somewhere else.

"I know, right?" Ron grinned widely and Hermione nodded in agreement.

The stories aside, the food was also a pleasant surprise. Despite having already eaten, Shirou didn't see any harm in having some more, considering how underfed this body seemed to be. The way the food appeared on the plates which cleaned themselves afterward was interesting, and Shirou was once again intrigued with the chefs' skill. Whoever they were, he made a mental note to speak to them at least once after he came back from summer vacation. After all, no matter how ridiculous and depressing the situation he was in was, good food was always something to be enjoyed and appreciated. Of course, it would be even more wonderful if Shirou were to be the cook himself.

After the meal, the students started gathering and traveled by groups out to the castle's gate, where they would be transported to Hogsmeade Station to board the Hogwarts Express. Shirou, Hermione, Ron and another boy named Neville Longbottom quickly taken up their spaces inside a carriage, which was pulled by some sort of winged boney horses. The weird thing was that only Shirou could see them. None off the other seemed to even recognize their existence. He had asked about it but dropped the subject in the end seeing there was no point to it since it was obvious that the others didn't know the answer.

As the carriage started moving, Shirou took the chance to look back at the Hogwarts castle. From outside it looked even more impressive, just like something came straight out from a fairy tale.

_Well, I wouldn't mind living here for awhile, _he shrugged. After all, if he were planning to get himself acquainted with this world and its magic, where would be a better place than a school?

* * *

For the most part, the train ride was uneventful. Shirou, Hermione and Ron said goodbye to Neville as soon as they boarded the train and quickly found an empty cabin all for themselves. From then on, Shirou just sat back and listen to his two companions explaining about the Britain Wizarding World. He learned that the students would get their supplies from a place called Diagon Alley – a magical shopping district, which could be accessed through apparating or using Floo, or just simply go through its entrance in the backyard of a rundown bar called The Leaky Cauldron in London. Shirou made a mental note of visiting the place as soon as he got the chance.

"That's some very convenient means of transportation you got there," he commented on the explanation of apparating and Floo-ing.

"Yeah, they're quick," Ron nodded. "But it's not as awesome as it sounds. You have to be at least seventeen to be apparating, and you will need a license for that. And from what I heard, it's quite uncomfortable traveling that way. And Floo wasn't much better, either, speaking from experience. Personally, I like riding on a broom, or at least using a Portkey if it has to be."

"Which is a magical object keyed to a specific place. It would take you to that place and maybe back whenever it was activated," Hermione explained after seeing Shirou's puzzled expression.

"I see," Shirou pondered. "Well, all in all, as long as they're quick, I think I can stand being uncomfortable for a few seconds."

Their talk went on for a long while after that. Ron was the talkative one, rambling on subjects after subjects but always pushed it to Hermione whenever something Hogwarts-related came up, making Shirou grinned a little. Hermione, on the other hand, kept her silence most of the time, only putting in details here and there or answer whenever she was asked. Occasionally, Shirou noticed that she was looking at him sadly and felt the guilt bubbled up again. However, he couldn't do anything about it.

It was around three in the afternoon that something notable happened. After the three finished their lunches, Hermione excused herself and dug into a book that she had brought. Ron on the other hand, had talked Shirou into a game of wizarding chess and was about to kick his butt, which made Shirou a little shameful though admittedly, he had had little experience when it came to games like those. Suddenly, the door to their cabin slid open forcefully, admitting a blond boy with a haughty sneer on his face, followed by two larger boys. Shirou didn't want to insult them or anything, but he just couldn't help but thought that they looked really dumb.

The sudden entrance surprised Shirou a bit as well, from the time they got on the train, there were many people who passed by this cabin. All of them had tried to glance in to look at him, much to his annoyance, but this was the first time someone actually decided to enter.

"Hello?" Shirou said hesitantly, not knowing what was the relationship between the two trios. Though it couldn't be very good, if Hermione and Ron's glares were anything to go by.

"Malfoy," Ron grumbled. "What are you doing here."

"Calm down, Weasley," the boy, whose name was Malfoy, said. "It's not that I have any business with a Weasley, or a mudblood," he glanced at Hermione like she was something disgusting before continuing. "Just checking on Potter here. It seemed like even after losing his memory, he still couldn't choose better friends to hang out with."

Shirou squinted his eyes a little. There was something very familiar about that boy that he couldn't remember right away. After shaking his brain, trying to figure it out, he finally found the answer. That Malfoy was somehow resemble Matou Shinji, his ex-friend back in high school.

_Of course, from the way he take care of his appearance, to the way he talk, they all remind me of that bastard, _Shirou sighed. The two of them used to be friends, but that didn't mean he could forgive Shinji for what he did during his time as a Master of the Fuyuki Grail War. However, that aside, Shinji had always had an attitude that was unbearable to most people around him. Surprisingly enough, Shirou wasn't one of them, as he could tolerate most bullshit people threw at him without losing his temper. As long as it didn't do harm to people around him, that was it.

That might explain why Shirou didn't really offended by Malfoy. But again, the blond didn't really insult him, but his companions. And that wasn't something he could let slip by without doing anything. However, it seemed a bit pitiful threatening a bunch of children.

"Don't insult, Hermione, bastard," Ron growled and was about to stand up, but Hermione pulled him back down.

"Don't, Ron. They're not worth it," she said, glaring at the three uninvited guests.

"No one asked you, Granger. And good choice, Weasley, you know you can't beat me," Malfoy sneered again before turning back to Shirou. "And you, Potter. I advise you to take the chance and forget about those worthless trashes. There are many better people for you to be with, people of higher standing, like me, for example. You've declined my offer for friendship before. But I'm willing to forgive you. You better be grateful."

That rant almost made Shirou snort out loud. It was only then that he realized that even Shinji wasn't that bad. At least the shallow girls still liked him. Though to be fair, Malfoy's two escorts might have compromised his chance with the girls.

"I don't really understand, but what make you better than Ron or Hermione?" Perking up and looking straight at the blond, Shirou asked. There was no anger in his voice. He was simply just curious.

"I'm a pure blood, born into a long and proud line of magical family. Unlike that Granger, both of her parents are filthy muggle. And that Weasley, they're so poor even though they're also pure blood. If I were you, I wouldn't associate with, or even be anywhere near them."

"So basically, blood and wealth?" Shirou asked again. Both Ron and Hermione were now staring at him in surprise at his calmness, even forgetting that they were insulted and belittled. Apparently, the two of them was horror struck, fearing that their friend would actually go along with Malfoy's words.

"Yes, Potter. I'm glad that you finally understand," the blood nodded in satisfaction.

"No, actually I still have more questions," Shirou shook his head. He was genuinely interested now. "Wealth I can understand. But you're actually stronger, magically that's it, if you're from an older bloodline? So in that case, both you and Ron must be really strong, right? Funny, 'cause I've heard it was Hermione who excels at school, both in theory and practical."

That was the question that Shirou wanted answer. He didn't know anything about this world's magic and how it worked. Back in his own world, the successors of older bloodlines usually tended to be stronger, due to their family Crest that was passed down from previous generations. It was important to know whether they could do the same here.

"No, Harry, don't listen to him," it was Hermione who answered. "Blood purity has nothing to do with a person's magical capacity. I've read many books regarding that topic. In fact, many of the most succeeding students at Hogwarts were either muggleborn or half-blood."

"Shut up, Granger," Malfoy barked, his face flushed a little. "Potter, that's just some nonsense the mudblood spew to reassure themselves. And for your question, it's only because the teachers are playing favorite that Granger is able to do so well until now."

_So much for relying on school children for information, _Shirou sighed silently. He was neither satisfied by Hermione nor Malfoy's answer. Admittedly, Hermione had more chance of telling the truth, but he wasn't about to trust it if the only proof to back her words up was that she had read it somewhere before.

_I guess it's still better than no proof at all, _ he glance at Malfoy. _Maybe I should ask to borrow whatever book she had read. It might prove to be helpful. There must be a reason why the pure blood think of themselves better than the rest. _He reasoned. It would be purely idiotic to think that way if their bloodline didn't actually make them stronger after all.

Finally, Shirou turned back to the blond.

"Thank you, I guess, Malfoy, was it? And sorry that I can't remember who you are," he said politely. "About your offer, I'm grateful, but I'm doing fine here. To be honest, personally, I find Hermione and Ron much more pleasant to be with than you. And that's I've only talked to you for ten minutes."

His answer actually managed to make Ron roared in laughter, even Hermione couldn't help but smile a little and gave him an approving nod. Malfoy, on the other hand, had flushed so hard that his entire face became red.

"You… Again, I've offered you my friendship again, and that's what you do?" He spat out angrily. "Even after losing your memory, you're still just an idiot, Potter. And here I thought you could have been better."

"I'm perfectly fine with how I am now. Thanks for your concern," Shirou replied evenly. "It's touching to see so many people care for my well being."

Thinking he was being sarcastic, Ron laughed even harder, clutching his stomach.

"You better remember it. All of you," the blond glared at them. "I'll make your life hell if you don't learn to respect your better."

"I'm not scared of empty threats, Malfoy," Shirou said coldly. Malfoy had served his purpose, which was nothing at all, so there was no need to keep talking to him any longer. "Please leave. You're welcome to come back when you can carry out what you said. I wonder what a hellish life is like, I really do."

Glaring at him furiously for a few seconds, Malfoy finally turned around and ordered the two other boys to follow him. They soon disappeared down the corridor. Shirou heaved another sigh. It was kind of disappointing, but understandable. After all, Malfoy was just a school kid, despite being born into a magical bloodline. Shirou guessed it was still beyond them to truly understand a whole magic system at that age.

"Those were awesome comebacks, mate," Ron, finally recovered from his laughter, patted Harry on his arm. "I still wished to be able to teach them a lesson somehow. That ponce has been at odd with us since our first year and he is getting on my nerve more and more lately."

"Don't get yourself into trouble, Ron," Hermione scolded. "Harry did the right thing. There was no need to start a fight with that kind of people. For a second there I was scared that he would actually listen to Malfoy though."

"Nah, I don't like his attitude," Shirou shrugged. "It's my belief that people should have equal rights regardless of where they are born into."

"Totally," Ron nodded, grinning. "But you should watch out. The Malfoys isn't the only pure blood family who spew that kind of nonsense. All in all, in school, you should avoid everyone from Slytherin. Those snakes are all the same."

"Thanks for the advice, I guess," Shirou replied. It wasn't that he agreed with Ron or anything. But there was no use arguing over it. After that, the three of them spent even more time talking about random topics, which didn't really interest Shirou all that much, but he tried to keep up the conversation anyway. It was to make up for the guilt he was feeling about the whole thing, or at least part of it. Here and there, there were pieces of information that could be useful later on. But most of the time, they only talked about the trio's past stories, schoolwork, or about Ron and Hermione.

* * *

Late in the afternoon, the ride finally came to an end. And as Shirou dragged his trunk toward the station's exit, he realized how weak this body was. The young age was a reason, of course. But as he had noticed, Harry was underfed, and he didn't have that many muscle either. That would be a problem if it wasn't fixed soon.

Upon exiting the station, Shirou was once again ambushed by someone. This time it was a woman with the same red hair as Ron. Unfortunately, he couldn't dodge her hug like he did with Hermione since he was too focused on said girl's talk about basic Transfiguration. As a result, he was almost flattened between the woman's arms.

"Harry, this is my mum, Molly Weasley," Ron introduced after Shirou was released and was trying to breath as much as possible.

"It's nice to meet you...er...again, Mrs. Weasley," he bowed politely.

"Oh Harry dear," Molly pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the tears that were threatening to fall down from the corner of her eyes. "I've heard what happened. It's so terrible. How could they let that happen to you? But don't worry, we will do everything we can to help you. In fact, I've asked professor Dumbledore to let you go and live with us this summer. He agreed but insisted that you have to be with your relatives for two weeks before that. I really don't understand why…"

She paused a little to catch her breath and continued. "But anyway, you will come live with us. And guess what, Arthur, my husband, has managed to secure some tickets to the Quidditch World Cup finale this year. You're going to watch it together with him and the children, and of course, Hermione too."

"Quidditch..." Shirou murmured, trying to remember the meaning of the word. "Oh right, the Wizarding sport. Ron mentioned it just earlier. Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. But are you sure it's okay for me to..."

"Of course it is, don't be silly," Molly quickly cut him off. "You're more than welcome to join our family."

"Eh… Thank you very much," Shirou bowed deeply as Molly gave him a wide smile. Another bang of guilt hit him right that instance.

_Another good person fallen for the act, _he thought bitterly. Shirou knew fully well that all of this kindness was reserved for the boy Harry Potter, not him. And he dreaded the day they figured out the truth. _I wonder if she would still be kind like this. Guess not, after all, I've been lying and manipulating them._

Still, he had no choice. If playing as Harry Potter could keep those people and many others safe in the future, then that was only a small price to pay.

_I have to focus on other things first, _Shirou thought after saying goodbye to the Weasleys. The summer vacation had just started, and that meant plenty of free time since he had been excused from doing any homework this time. He didn't know how Harry usually spent his summer, but Shirou had already had plans for the next two weeks, before he had to go to live with the Weasleys.

_First, I'll read as much as I can about this world and its magic, then maybe pay a visit to Diagon Alley. But first of all, I should get rid of all these horrid clothing that this boy owns as soon as possible, _Shirou looked down to what he was wearing and grimaced a little.

**End of chapter 2.**


	3. Summer Vacation (1)

_**Author's note: **_**Another update, this one is a bit shorter than the other two. I'm sorry for that.**

**Also, after the next chapter, the update speed will be slower so I can take care of my other stories as well. So please bear with me for the time being.**

**Finally, for everybody who are wondering what happened to Sirius. Well, let's wait and see, shall we? I assure you that he isn't forgotten at all.**

**That's all for now. Please enjoy.**

* * *

A week had passed since the day Shirou came to live with the Dursleys. It wasn't what he had imagined. From what he had gathered, they were supposed to be some kind of bad, abusive relatives. However, for most of the time, they generally ignored his existence as he locked himself in the small bedroom on the second floor. The only times they had contact, if he could call them that, were when Petunia called him down for meals. Though after the first few days, Shirou finally ignored her and refused to come down, as he saw how uncomfortable and strained the atmosphere was whenever he and the Dursleys were together. In turn, they also did the same and didn't bother him anymore. It was as if they had come to a silent agreement to leave each other alone. And Shirou actually preferred it that way.

If Shirou were to be complete honest, then the way the Dursleys was treating him now could be considered abusive. If it were to be done to someone else in his presence, then he would no doubt reacted somehow. But since it was happening to him, he just couldn't care less. Instead, Shirou focus most of his attention and time into reading about the Wizarding World that he had gotten himself involved in recently. On his second day here, he had sneaked out and went to the Diagon Alley by himself using the Knight Bus, a surprisingly uncomfortable mean of transportation that Ron had told him about on the Hogwarts Express. After his first ride, Shirou had sworn not to order the hot chocolate ever again. Its horrible taste aside, there was just no way to keep it from spilling all around every time the bus paused or sped up again.

All in all, his first trip there proved quite helpful, though not very comfortable at first due to how people keep staring at him, some even approached him to express their sadness and concern. The story about Harry Potter's amnesia had no doubt become a well known one and a hot topic of discussion within the Wizarding World. It was only after he had withdrawn some money from the Potter vault in a bank called Gringotts, which was owned and operated by goblins, much to Shirou's surprise, that he was able to buy a black robe with hood to hide his identity and get people to leave him to shop in peace.

Since the Dursleys had their curfew, Shirou had had to cut his first trip short. Even if they were essentially ignoring each other, he didn't want to risk their anger. Not that he was scared or anything, but it just wasn't worth the trouble to disturb everyone's peaceful lives. In the end, he managed to purchase some books that he found necessary, sneaked them into his room and had been reading them ever since.

_There wasn't that much to learn about their culture, _Shirou thought as he flipped through another page of the book he was reading. It wasn't like their culture was uninteresting or simple by any mean. It was just that there was a surprisingly small number of books written about that subject, and even then, they were just vague descriptions. However, Shirou could still figure out a few things from reading them.

Firstly, it seemed like magic was involved in almost everything in their daily lives. From household chores, to office works, or making medicines (or in this case, potions) and healing stuffs. Even for the simplest thing like cleaning a table, they would do it with the aid of magic. Shirou didn't deny its effectiveness or convenience. But doing so had some certain drawbacks as well.

The most obvious one was how the magical society seemed to be behind its muggle counterpart a long way, technical and science wise. It was unclear whether the other countries suffered from the same fate, but it was particularly bad in British Wizarding World. From their attires, to household applicants, looked like they were from the eighteenth century. Heck, they didn't even have a simple light bulb to replace the candle they were using. But then again, there wasn't even electricity to begin with. This was worsened even further when combined with the pure blood's attitude toward muggles and muggleborns.

In several books, the issue of blood purity was mentioned several times. It was just like Ron said, Malfoy wasn't the only one who believed that their bloodline was superior compared to the muggles. However, it was utterly disappointing that none of those books actually gave any proof to back up such claim, other than the bloodline being 'pure', 'ancient' and 'proud'. He had wondered no less than five times whether they were actually that ignorant or it was just him who hadn't been able to find the right book on the subject. Though over time, he had gradually been leaning toward the first accusation, as there were some instances inbreeding was mentioned, and the latest case was very recent as well. Shirou was thoroughly disgusted with the idea when he first stumbled upon it.

_And they wonder why their lines are dying out, _he grimaced, closing the book shut. Of course, it was still too early to pass judgment on an entire society based on what he read in a book. Therefore, Shirou decided to wait until he had the chance to discuss the matter with someone knowledgeable, hoping that everything wasn't as bad as it appeared to be.

Looking around, Shirou finally realized that he had read everything he bought in his last trip. It called for another trip to Diagon Alley seeing how there were still another week until he moved in with the Weasleys. Taking a glance at the clock on the wall, he silently noted that it was only seven in the evening, though passed curfew, it was still fairly early. By this time, the Dursleys had finished their dinner as well and Shirou could be sure that they wouldn't bother to check on him in his room.

_Why not take another trip then? _He shrugged. It wasn't that hard to sneak out when all he had to do was to leap out of the window. Quickly stood up and changed into his traveling attire, Shirou looked down at his body and nodded in satisfaction. All of the scars were gone. With the use of Avalon, he had been able to fix this body of several past injuries that never healed properly. That included some on his bones and his eyes as well. Shirou had taken the chance and decided to get rid of the glasses, as it was too much of an inconvenience and a pain to get used to the altered range of vision. With today's muggle technology, treating short-sighted eyes wasn't something impossible, thus it would be easy to explain once he got back to Hogwarts.

The only thing that was still irk him was Harry's leftover wardrobe. Despite vowing to himself to dispose of it as soon as possible, Shirou soon realized that it was easier said than done. He would need to ask someone, preferably an adult to help him with that, since a thirteen years old kid shopping and carrying a mountain of clothing all by himself surely wouldn't draw any unnecessary attention. For now, Shirou decided to settle with two set of new shirt and jeans with simple design, but fit him nevertheless, and a robe to hide his face whenever he ventured into the magical world.

_Maybe Mrs. Weasley would be happy to help… _Shirou thought idly as he finished changing and opened the window next to his bed, making sure that it wouldn't close on its own afterward as it also served as his way in when he came back as well.

Just as Shirou was carefully looking around the street to make sure that no one would see him jumping out, a small hoot behind making him turn back and look for its source.

"Of course," he smiled at the snowy owl named Hedwig, who was currently flapping her wing frantically inside her cage. "Almost forgot about you. Here, let me set you out."

He then came over and opened the cage. Instantly, Hedwig flew out and circled above his head, hooting happily. For some reason, Shirou had the impression that she actually realized that he wasn't Harry Potter. And since she was way too smart for a normal owl, he had suspected her to be a familiar of some kind. But after a careful analysis, she appeared to be just like a normal everyday owl.

_Maybe the owls of the Wizarding World are all like that, _Shirou mused. If the wizards were able to use them for sending mails and stuffs, they would have to possess a higher intelligence somehow.

"Well, looks like we're both going to have a little trip tonight," he told the owl. "Have fun and come back early, okay? And remember not to disturb the neighbors."

Hedwig replied with a confident hoot before flying out of the window.

* * *

"That wretched vehicle..." Shirou mumbled as he walked unsteadily into Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron's backyard. From the look of it, it would be a long while before he could get used to travel by the Knight Bus. It didn't help that there were more passengers this time around, thus the bus had to stop more often than a few days ago.

Taking a moment to recover, Shirou then looked around. The Diagon Alley in the evening was quite different from how it was during the day. There were much less shoppers. And of course, some stores were closed. There was no streetlight either, and each building had its own lantern hanging in front of the door instead, giving the entire alley a more deserted and bleak atmosphere. The only exception was the Gringotts building, even without the light of the day, it was still standing tall and spacious as ever.

It didn't take long for Shirou to locate the bookstore but he didn't go straight there. Instead, he took the liberty and walked around, visiting stores that he couldn't last time. However, without knowledge of so many aspects regarding a wizard's life, most of them didn't make any sense to him. Besides, Shirou had already got the basic needed tools for his year at Hogwarts, and the list of new books for the next year hadn't arrived yet, so overall, he was just window shopping. He also tried to enter some certain stores whenever something caught his interest, only to gave that object a 'Structure Analysis' and walked out after learning its usage. That particular action had earned him several glares from the shop owners but Shirou just ignored them and went on his way.

After about half an hour, he had got bored of going around and decided to get some books and go home. The shopkeeper proved to be very helpful. Whenever Shirou asked about a topic, he would direct him to the specific shelves, and even went as far as recommended him some good titles. In the end, Shirou was able to find four more books on Wizarding Ancient bloodlines and one on magical theory. He intend to learn what he could about this world's magic even if he couldn't use it, not yet anyway.

It was only after he stepped out of the bookstore and started making his way toward the exit that some loud noises from behind caught his attention. Turning back, Shirou was able to see that in front of a small restaurant not far away, several cloaked figures were engaging in a fight with some customers. Reinforcing his eyes a little, he saw that everyone involved had had their wands out, and was shooting spells at each other. The voices of them reading the incantations, insults and curses were mixed with the sound of breaking objects that were used as barriers. From inside the restaurant, people were pouring out, trying their best to get out of the way of the conflict.

"Again?" Shirou saw an older wizard on his side sighed. "This is the third time this week already. Someone call the Aurors quick," he then turned toward him. "You better get away from that."

"Does this happen often around here?" Shirou asked. "Who are those people?"

"No," the man shook his head. "It only started happening around a week ago. Those pure blood kids suddenly parade the street and provoke fight with the other half-bloods and muggleborns, mostly muggleborns though. The Aurors had subdued them several times before but this is getting out of hand, since their parents could just bail them out with their money. Better not get involved, boy."

He then turned on his heels and left. All the other shoppers were doing the same as no one wanted to be around when the Aurors arrived. Shirou, on the other hand, just stood there and considered the possibilities.

_Had anyone reported to the Aurors yet? And when will they come? _He thought quickly. Shirou knew that they could get here very quickly by apparating. However, this was well past working hours, how fast would they receive the news of the fight? How much damage would be done before they were managed to subdue the fighters?

Needless to say, Shirou wasn't one who could just turn a blind eye toward such crime. He quickly ducked into a dark alley nearby before stripping himself of the robe and put it in the backpack he was wearing together with the newly purchased books. The robe was extremely difficult to move in, and if he could just stick to the shadow, they wouldn't be able to see his face anyway. After all, his goal was just to break up the fight, so there was no need to even got close to the fighters and risked revealing his identity.

With that in mind, Shirou immediately traced his bow, which was altered to fit with his new height and arm length, while reinforcing his body a little. Shirou didn't know this body's limit on how much it could be reinforced without breaking apart. But he had no doubt that it was very weak. Therefore, he decided not to risk it and only enhance it slightly, a little above an average human, for him to be able to move around swiftly and draw his bow without much effort.

Taking the back alley, Shirou was able to reach the back of the uncloaked group, who he guessed was the muggleborns, in under a minute. He perked out of a corner to assert the situation. There were seven fighters in all, four cloaked and hooded individuals on the other side of the street were firing spells after spells at their three opponents, who were struggling to hold their ground.

_As expected of school children. Their movements are awkward and ineffective, _Shirou mused. However, he had to admit that one of them, the largest hooded figure, were using a wide range of sinister looking spells with fairly good casting speed. Taking that one out might help calm the situation a little.

Without wasting any more time, Shirou traced a blunt arrow into his empty hand, raised his bow, aimed and released. The arrow cut through the air and hit its target's right hand, making him drop his wand. But even before he could express his surprise, he was hit square in the face with a red spell from one of the three muggleborns and fell unconscious. Immediately, Shirou let his arrow vanished into thin air to prevent anyone from taking it as an evidence later on.

"Who was that?" Unfortunately, one of the muggleborns had noticed Shirou's interference. The boy quickly turned around and fired a spell in his direction, forcing him to roll out of the way to avoid getting hit. It was the same red spell that knocked out the large thug earlier, and it certainly wouldn't do for Shirou to be rendered unconscious here and now.

"Be careful, there is one more in the back!" From the corner he was hiding behind, Shirou could hear someone shouted. Spells were then fired wildly in his general direction, making it quite hard to do anything else. However, a second later, he heard a grunt nearby and the sound of someone hit the ground with a loud 'thud', and the attack ceased for a moment, indicating one of the muggleborns had got hit. Quickly taking the chance, Shirou traced another arrow, dashed out of his cover and fired it toward the first hooded figure he saw, hitting him right between the eyes and knocked the poor boy off of his feet.

_He shouldn't be able to get up for awhile, _gritting his teeth while dodging another barrage of spells flung toward him. Shirou grimaced as he noted that by now, the pure blood group had already realized that the newcomer was aiming at them and was moving out of their original position to get a better shot at him. To add insult to injury, even the muggleborns were now thinking of him as an enemy. They had their reason though. Even if they couldn't see it, they still should be able to feel his arrows barely missed them earlier. And at the very least, it looked like they blamed him for the distraction that got one of their friends knocked out.

Luckily, there was still quite a distance from Shirou's place and his opponents, and that the pure blood group hadn't actually seen him yet. He quickly jumped out of his hiding spot, rolled on the ground to avoid a stream of flame that soared right above his head before regaining his footing and released another arrow toward one of the muggleborns. It looked like they had been prepared though, as just a moment later, some kind of magical shield were erected, blocking the arrow.

Shirou frowned. If mundane arrows wouldn't do the trick anymore, then he would have to resort to something more effective. And of course, Shirou had just what he needed in his arsenal. Silently voicing his thanks to a certain member of the Burial Agency for letting him having a peek at her weapons during their joint mission, he once again left his cover to face the two muggleborns, while carefully positioning himself in the shadow so his face wouldn't be seen in any case.

As expected, another rain of spells was sent to greet his appearance. However, this time, instead of dodging, Shirou simply traced numerous nameless swords to intercept the spells. He then produced two Black Keys, reshaping them into arrows and shot them at the two opponents' shadows, effectively pinned them in place.

"What on earth…?!" One of them exclaimed in shock. Not that Shirou had time to pause and watching them panic, he quickly turned to the sound of footsteps on his left.

"There he is," from the other side of the alley emerged the two remaining hooded fighters. Shirou had to admit that it was quite smart of them to try to flank him while he was busy dealing with the muggleborns. Not that it would've worked anyway, as just a second later, the two of them found themselves in the exact same situation as their former opponents, frozen in place by some kind of weird arrows striking their shadows, unable to move or even cast a spell. It was lucky for Shirou that the routes all four of them chose to approach him still had some lit lanterns, or else there wouldn't be shadows to speak of in the first place.

Suddenly, there were several loud popping sounds on the main street, accompanied by shouts of orders.

"Aurors here, everyone drop your wands," a firm voice belong to an older wizard ordered.

"Mr. Shacklebolt, we've found two of them here," another voice said. "One knocked out, maybe got hit by a stunner. The other is still conscious, but he seemed to be in pain, not very serious though."

"Seize them, and spread out to look for the others. There must be more than two and they shouldn't be able to get too far."

_Well, it's time to leave, _Shirou thought as he quickly retreated into the opposite direction of the footsteps sounds. When the Aurors seemed to be near enough to the petrified fighters, he released the prana and vanished the Black Keys before taking out his robe and threw it over himself again.

_I was able to experience a wizarding fight tonight, so it's not a total waste of time, _Shirou thought as he made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron. _Even though they were just children, it still gave me an idea of what to expect in the future._

"I still should figure out what spells they used tonight though," he murmured. "It's still a bit unnerving to be hit by something unknown after all."

* * *

As the Aurors gathered and led the fighters away, a middle aged wizard finally left his observing spot inside a small jewelry shop in the back alley. It looked like a lucky day for him, as the store was very near the place of the mysterious fighter who came last, but managed to subdue the other seven before leaving.

_I was able to caught a glimpse of his face due to the light of the spells,_ he thought to himself. _But it can't be, right? It was so chaotic __out there so I couldn't be sure. __And that boy used some __really advanced__ magic right there…_

_But what if it was really Harry Potter? _He mused. _It shouldn't be that hard to confirm it though. And if it was really him, then there's no doubt that things were about to change soon, given what's happening lately._

Yes, it was really the man's lucky day. He grinned widely as he left the store and apparated away. It wouldn't do to keep his wife and two daughters waiting at home after all, and they surely would be intrigued with the piece of news he brought back. Not the boy, of course, just the fight for now would suffice.

* * *

_**One week later...**_

"Again!" Arthur Weasley exclaimed angrily as he read that day's 'Daily Prophet'. It was a rare weekend that he could take a day off and enjoy a breakfast with his wife and children. However, that piece of news had somewhat ruined his mood.

"Again what, dad?" From the other side of the dining table, his youngest son – Ron – asked.

"Another fight," Arthur sighed as he put down the newspaper. "And it's been so peaceful since the last time too..."

"It's been a week, hasn't it?" His wife, Molly Weasley asked as she put down another plate full of sausages that made his mouth water. After all these years, he still just couldn't help but admire her cooking skill.

"Well, a week is plenty of time for those miscreants to be released," he shrugged. "I wonder who was it that put them in jail last time."

"Very curious," next to him, Percy Weasley voiced his opinion. "If I remember right. Some of them claimed to be petrified by some weird arrows piercing their shadows. Two others also suffered from bruises like they were hit with something blunt, assumed to be arrows as well..."

"None of us has ever heard of anything like that," Arthur nodded in amusement. However, Percy just continued on.

"Regardless, that person was still involved in the fight. And not to mention vigilante acts were illegal as well. I don't know if he is really better from those who were captured..."

"Oh please, Percy. No one wanted to hear your opinion," in front of him, the twin – Fred and George Weasley – said in a mocking tone, at the same time.

"Personally, we find that person to be..." Fred continued.

"...Completely awesome, yes," George finished.

"Don't even think of mimicking him, whoever that was," Molly said in a threatening tone, glaring at the twins, effectively shutting them up.

"Never said we would, mum," they grumbled in unison.

"Good, because I don't want any of you to get into danger. Especially when the all the violence happening lately. I wonder what's causing them to act like that..." she trailed off a little before turning to Arthur. "So when are we going to pick up Harry? Today's the day he gets to move here, right?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "I think we should go in a couple of hours or so. Shouldn't be disturbing their family too early, you know? Harry might need time to say goodbye with his relatives too."

"I'm quite sure he isn't going to need that, dad," Ron shrugged as he stuffed another big piece of egg into his mouth.

"Don't talk while you're eating," Arthur scolded. "And I know about you saying the Dursleys are abusive and all. But surely they can't be that bad?"

"Oh please, dad. Remember the summer before second year?" Ron rolled his eyes and sighed. That got a nod of agreement from the twins as well.

"Well… Then I think we should go and fetch him soon..." Arthur hesitated, looking at the boys. "You've got his bed prepared, right?"

Ron nodded with a mouthful of food.

"Great. Then we will go right after lunch," he smiled at his youngest son before returning to his own meal. It had been awhile since the last time he met the boy named Harry Potter, and what happened to him was most unfortunate. However, Arthur and his wife had discussed at great length about the matter, and they'd come to an agreement to give Harry the best care possible when he was staying at their house. After all, the two of them saw him as their own son. And Arthur himself couldn't wait to see the boy again.

_That's right. He always has the most interesting stories to tell about life with the muggles,_ he nodded happily at the thought.

**End of Chapter 3.**


	4. Summer Vacation (2)

_**Author's note: **_**Well, that's it. I just want to inform all of my readers that this may be the last quick update for this story. Well, but I said 'may', so who knows...**

**That's all, please enjoy.**

* * *

"So, Shirou, what do you think of the life here?" Dumbledore asked as he and Shirou walked around The Burrow's large front yard.

It'd been three days since Shirou moved in with the Weasleys. At the question, he couldn't help but recall the memory of the day Arthur Weasley and his sons came over to the Dursleys' house by Floo to pick him up, consequently destroyed their fireplace and half of the living room in the progress. It didn't take the wizard much time to clean up afterward. Although Shirou had doubt that it would even be much quicker if the Dursleys just quietly let Arthur do his job from the start.

"It's nice," he nodded. "Peaceful at times, chaotic at others, especially whenever the twins are involved."

"Indeed, you have to experience their antics at Hogwarts to see what they're truly like," Dumbledore chuckled. "I have some questions to ask you, if you don't mind."

"I'll answer what I can."

"Alright," the old wizard looked at Shirou with twinkling eyes. "Am I wrong to assume that you were the one who interfered with the fight in Diagon Alley over a week ago?"

"It was me," Shirou nodded without hesitation, making Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"You're not going to deny it?"

"As much as I hate your method of doing things, I know you're not a fool, Albus," Shirou sighed. "Don't worry about that. I've made sure not to leave any lead."

"Oh don't be so sure about that," the Headmaster chuckled again. "I'll tell you something. Harry Potter sighted wandering alone around Magical London just two days after the beginning of summer vacation, two days after the official announcement of his amnesia, isn't a good thing. Yes, rumors travel fast. And don't forget that you're very famous here. There will be people who wish to harm you, as well as ones who want to use you for their own gain. Don't let them have that chance."

"I appreciate the concern," Shirou replied. "But I would also like to remind you that I'm not a thirteen years old, despite what this appearance suggests. I didn't survive wars and battlefields for years by being careless. I have to admit not being used to all the attention though. It makes it harder to travel unnoticed."

"Precisely. That's why I want you to stay out of public for the time being, at least when you're alone where no one can cover for you should something comes up."

Despite his gentle voice, it didn't take Shirou much effort to notice the underlying commanding tone, implying the end of the discussion. It seemed like Dumbledore was used to have people following his orders without much questions. Shirou found himself didn't like it very much, but he nodded nevertheless. For now, they need to remain on each others' good term. Dumbledore needed him to be the symbol of hope on the upcoming war, and he needed the old man for his knowledge and information that he could provide. Though admittedly, the latter might be scarce. It was understandable not to share important information with someone whom you couldn't trust, Shirou would've done the same if he were in the Headmaster's position.

"So what are you going to teach me today?" He asked, changing the topic.

"Bits of this and bits of that," Dumbledore grinned mischievously. "I take it you've read about magical theory?"

"I have," Shirou confirmed. "But it's too vague. I understand the progress of utilizing magical numbers in arithmancy to create new spells, and that the steps of casting a spell which consisted of focusing your magical energy, doing the wand movements while reading the incantation. But there must be more, right?"

"What do you mean 'more'?" Dumbledore asked, a little surprised.

"I mean something deeper than that. Where did the energy originated from? What's actual meaning behind the wand movement and incantation? Why do you need different sets of movements for each spell? Why do you even need wands in the first place? If the energy is already within you, then can't you just channel it and cast spells without being dependance on a Mystic Code? Aside from that, you've mention the use of blood ward before. That means the blood of a wizard or witch does carry magic. Is the power different from people to people? Is the older bloodlines actually stronger than the younger ones, or to be more specific, muggleborns?"

"Wow, hold on a second there, Shirou," Dumbledore held up his hand. "That's a lot of questions there. You must be a scholar of some kind back in your world if you're willing to dive that deep for knowledge. And what's a Mystic Code anyway?"

"You don't use that term?" Shirou raised an eyebrow. "It's an object used to amplify your magical output or to perform a specific given task, much like your wands. And no, I see myself more of a fighter than a scholar. But it's in nature of us magi to be curious about such things, I guess."

"I take it magi is your term for spellcasters then?," Dumbledore nodded. "Those are some interesting questions you posed. Regrettably, I'm ashamed to say that our researchers don't have as much insight as you have on such topics."

"You mean you just cast spells without knowing anything beside its facial aspects?"

"Basically, yes."

"Wow," Shirou pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know whether to be envy or angry at this piece of news anymore. Back in my world, to study magecraft, that's how we call 'magic', is to have deep understanding of what we're doing in the first place. And we most certainly don't use it like it's a natural, everyday thing like the people here."

"Interesting. And I can see what you are getting at," Dumbledore smiled. "I can answer some of those questions though. Wandless magic, for once, it's usable, but not to the general populace as it requires more focus, more energy and experience to produce the same effect. Only really strong individuals can cast spells wandlessly. Which is why I was impressed when I first met you and saw you perform wandless conjuration. May I ask about your actual age?"

"Does it really matter?"

"Not really, I was just curious since not many young people here can do what you did."

"Figured," Shirou agreed and grinned at Dumbledore. "But I'm not that old, and definitely not as old as you. My actual age is twenty two if you absolutely need to have your answer."

"Twenty two? So young?" Dumbledore's eyes widened for a moment as he looked sadly at Shirou. "And you've already sacrificed yourself for the safety of other people. You have my respect."

"Thank you. But it's already in the past, and I have no regret except for overtaking this body anyway," Shirou smiled bitterly, recalling his stupid last moment. "Back to the topic, so is there any people here can cast spells wandlessly at my age?"

"No, I don't think so," Dumbledore shook his head slowly. "You must be a talented individual to be able to do that."

"Talented?" Shirou snorted at the word. "No, beside a branch of magecraft that I excel in, I was a mediocre magus at best. And we generally don't use wands back in my world. Successors of magi lines are taught that way from a young age. But then again, maybe it's because of the differences in our magic systems that makes it harder for wizards and witchs to perform wandless magic. I should try casting something using a wand sometimes to make sure."

"Yes, that would be wise," the Headmaster nodded approvingly. "I originally wanted to teach you some basic spells today, but it looks like we're too taken In this discussion, which I have to admit to be very enlightening. So maybe next time?"

"I have no problem with that," Shirou agreed. "How about the bloodline issue? I've read all I could about the subject but nothing really explains just why pure blood families regard themselves better than the rest."

"That, I'm afraid is just because of their own ignorance," Dumbledore sighed heavily. "There has been no scientific claim about being in older bloodlines make a wizard stronger magically. If anything, I'd say that they're killing themselves out with all the inbreeding. Fortunately we've been able to prevent that from happening for quite awhile now."

"Are you sure about that?" Shirou asked. "You've told me just before that your researchers don't have much insight to dive deeper. How can you be certain that they didn't miss anything, or just ignored the issue entirely as it was widely accepted?"

"You may be right, Shirou. However, I think the evidence around us are obvious enough. You remember Hermione Granger? She's brilliant despite being a muggleborns. Your… No, Harry's mother was also the same. And above all, Voldemort himself, whose true name was Tom Marvolo Riddle, was a half-blood, the heir of the Marvolo line, a dying line to be specific. Still, there was no deny that he was one of the most powerful wizard ever walked the halls of Hogwarts."

"I see, so bloodline might be irrelevant here..." Shirou pondered about what he had just heard. If that was true, then he really didn't have anything to say to those ignorant pure blood anymore. They would eventually bring doom to their own society, Voldemort or not.

"Can I assume that you have no such problem back in your world?" Dumbledore asked.

"Quite the contrary," Shirou snickered. "The only difference is that the magi actually have reasons to look down on younger bloodlines. They apply muggle science to improve their own line, to make sure that the children are magically stronger than their parents by decreasing the number of negative traits while improving the positive traits."

"The way you talk making it sounds like an awful thing to do," the Headmaster commented, watching Shirou's expression.

"It _is _awful," Shirou grunted angrily. "The magi don't shun foreign bloods like the pure blood families. They welcome them even. But the way they do it, they choose carefully for the best gene to take in, just like choosing breeding cattle to ensure the best quality for their offspring. I despise that action, mind you. But there's no deny that their lines actually prosper by using that method. Not to mention the family Magic Crest that is passed down to the line's successor, which contain all the knowledge and spells that the previous generations managed to achieve. They have every reason to look down on the younger bloodlines."

Shirou breathed out heavily after finishing his speech. It seemed like talking about those magi back in his world provoked his temper quite a bit.

"Magic Crest? They can do that?" Dumbledore asked instantly. Shirou could sense a hint of worry in his voice. "Do you have one? And do you know how to make one?"

"Unfortunately not, I'm an adopted son, so the Crest couldn't be transferred to me. The old Emiya line died with my father. And I don't know how to make one."

"Is that so?" Dumbledore heaved a sigh of relief by himself. "Well, thank you for sharing your knowledge with me, Shirou. It was most intriguing," he smiled gently.

"You're welcome," Shirou waved his hand. "You've answered some of my questions as well, so it's only fair. If possible, I'd like to have more talks like this in the future. There's still a lot I need to learn about this world."

"That's a brilliant idea," Dumbledore smiled brightly. "I have to admit that it was very exciting to learn something new after thinking that you've almost learned everything there is. But I'm afraid we will have to say goodbye for now. Molly would ban me from visiting you if I kept you from eating your lunch on time. Go and enjoy her cooking."

"That's my plan," Shirou grinned widely. "This body is too underfed and I'm going to make up for that. It helps that Mrs. Weasley is an excellent cook."

"Very true. Very true," Dumbledore laughed and waved at him. "Goodbye, Shirou. We will meet again soon. By the way, nice new clothing you got there."

"Thank you, I just took liberty of my free time and Harry's money. See you later."

With a loud pop, the old wizard apparated away. Shirou stared at the empty space in front of him for a moment before turning on his heels and come back to the Burrow. By now, Molly should have finished making lunch already. As much as he wanted to help in the kitchen, Dumbledore really came at a very inconvenient time.

_Well, there's always next time, _shrugging, Shirou then started thinking about what he would say to persuade Molly to share her kitchen with him, preferably by dinner.

* * *

Back at his office, Dumbledore sat down behind his desk and sighed. He then started thinking about the conversation he just had with the strange boy named Shirou Emiya. What he had learned today was, in a way, interesting. How to make use of the information, however, was a question that needed to be answered.

First of all, Shirou claimed that he came from another dimension, another world. Was that the truth? It wasn't like Dumbledore could confirm his words in anyway. Legilimency? Too risky. Shirou was able to perform wandless magic, that could mean he had a very strong magical focus and power. Or simply it was just like the boy himself said, it was due to the differences between their worlds. But either way, Dumbledore wasn't going to risk it unless he could be absolutely sure that Shirou wouldn't find out. The boy was important, and it would be a disaster to sabotage their relationship just to satisfy his curiosity. Veritaserum was also out of question for the same reasons.

On the other hand, if what Shirou said wasn't true, then there was no other explanation of why his soul arrived here and took over Harry's body in the first place. Also, it would take him a huge amount of time and effort to be able to make up a story like that. During their time together, Dumbledore had observed the boy carefully, but detected no sign of him lying. He was withholding information, yes, but not making up lies.

The Headmaster's thoughts then started drifting to a particular article on the 'Daily Prophet' that he read over a week ago. The rising of violent acts recently was indeed worrying, and unnatural. There must be a reason that explained the action of those pure blood youths. Dumbledore had started his investigation into the problem. However, it wasn't his top priority at the moment.

There was another fighter who escaped the Aurors' arrest that night. Shirou Emiya had been at the scene when the fight broke out, and for some reason, decided to interfere. What interested Dumbledore was that apparently, the boy had managed to subdue seven, admittedly young, wizards, with bow and arrows. That was certainly an… unorthodox way to fight in a wizarding fight. Of course, there weren't just mundane arrows as some of the fighters claimed that they were petrified by some kind of arrow struck their shadows.

_Was that one of his spells? Or those arrows are actually some kind of magical artifact, Mystic Code as he put it? _Dumbledore wondered. He was very curious about that and was about to ask Shirou to show him those arrows in their meeting today. But he decided against it in the end, as there would be a big chance of the boy refusing him. After all, they were still just stranger to each other, and it was kind of rude to ask something like that. For now, his trust was more important.

_That's it, just observe him and start building his truth, _Dumbledore nodded to himself before sighing. _Things would be so much simpler if I hadn't agreed for the Dementors to stay at Hogwarts._

Waves of guilt once again started filling the old wizard's chest as the thought hit him. It was true, he was smarter than most people, which was why his mistakes would also be much bigger.

* * *

Upon sitting down for lunch with the Weasleys, Shirou was able to temporarily set aside his thought of taking over the kitchen and focused on the conversation with Dumbledore earlier.

_Was it wrong of me to give him knowledge about my world like that? _He pondered. It could prove dangerous in the future, so he decided not to disclose any more specific information so easily, especially about himself and his spells. Back in his world, Shirou was confident that the 'Tracing' ability and the 'Unlimited Blade Works' was his and his alone. However, after knowing that this world's wizards and witchs could cast spell without any in-depth knowledge, he became a bit worried. It would also do good not to let anyone he couldn't trust have a chance to inspect, or even see, his swords, as some of them have power beyond imagination. Shirou shuddered at the thought of them falling into the hands of wrong people.

_I should make t my priority to find out exactly what this world's magic can and cannot do, _he noted. Only after that he could decided whether or not to share more knowledge with Dumbledore. Since it didn't matter he liked it or not, he need detailed information and knowledge about this world, and he was sure that someone like Dumbledore wouldn't give those away for free. Given what he'd seen of the Headmaster, he could say that the best price to put on the table was his own unique knowledge.

_Either that, or I can pressure him into giving them up, saying I need those for my act as Harry Potter, _Shirou mused. He disliked that method, but didn't entirely discard it from his list of choices. After all, he was willing to do anything to ensure other people's safety. And if there was a piece of information that could serve that purpose, he wouldn't hesitate to take it, even by force if necessary.

"What are you thinking, dear?" Suddenly, Molly's voice yanked him out of his thoughts. She was looking at him worriedly while placing some dishes on the table.

"You looked a bit scary there, mate," Ron added. "Did professor Dumbledore say something?"

"What…? Oh no, it's nothing..." Realizing he had let his emotions show on his face, Shirou quickly waved his hand and tried to give them an assuring smile. "Just remembering something about the Dursleys."

"Ah… That makes sense," Ron nodded. "You looked like you were going to hit someone."

"Of course, we would be very understanding..." George jumped in.

"If our little Harry wanted to payback..." Fred continued.

"Especially to that whale of a boy you called cousin," George nodded understandingly.

"Very true, brother of mine," and Fred concluded, making Shirou rolled his eyes at their attic but smiled nevertheless.

"Haven't you two had enough fun when fetching me?" He snorted, remembering what the twin had done for Dudley's tongue while Arthur was busy fixing the Dursleys' living room.

"Merlin, Harry, it's never enough when we're having fun," the two of them said in unison.

"Personally, I think you two are having too much fun," Molly said as she finally sat down beside her husband. "I've lost count of the number of Howlers I sent you two over the past years. Why couldn't you take after your brother? Like Percy here."

Percy softly coughed at the mention of his name, looking obviously proud of himself. Out of the Weasleys kids, with the exceptions of two eldest son who were working abroad, Percy was the one Shirou had had the least interactions with since he always locked himself in his room when he wasn't working. It didn't mean Shirou find him unpleasant though, for some reason he reminded him of his old friend Issei, only much more stricter and harder to get to know.

"But mum, life is too short to… Hey, what's that?" Just as George was about to retort, there were some knocks on the window, making him and the rest of the residences turn around and look for the source. Outside of the nearest window, there was a big, fierce looking owl knocking on it.

"I wonder whose letter is that..." Molly murmured as she stood up again and opened the window, letting the owl in. To Shirou's surprise, it landed right in front of him and held out its leg with a letter attached.

"For me?" Shirou asked, pointing at himself before realizing how obvious that was. He quickly took the letter and opened it. There was only one piece of parchment inside, and the letter were written in a neat and polite handwriting.

* * *

_Mister Harry Potter,_

_I am Adam Greengrass, head of the Greengrass family, member of Hogwarts' Board of Governor. It is an honor to be acquainted with you._

_This may be sudden, seeing how we've never actually talked to each other before, but this is an invitation to our eldest daughter – Daphne Greengrass's birthday party on the 18th of July, which is ten day from now. The party starts at 6 p.m and end at 10 p.m._

_We sincerely hope that you could join us for the party. As we've heard of your unfortunate incident at the end of the last school year, we, as well as many other wizarding families, want to help you return to our world as soon as possible. And in my opinion, attending wizarding social events is one of the best way to do so._

_Please send your answer to us as soon as possible. You can use our owl or tell him to come back and use one of your own. If you decided to attend, the Floo address to our mansion will be sent afterward._

_Head of house Greengrass,_

_Adam Greengrass._

_P/S: This may not be very appropriate, but since you're of the same age with my daughter, what would you buy for her as a birthday present if you were her friend? I've heard of a wonderful jewelry shop in the back alley of Diagon Alley. Perhaps you've visited that place?_

* * *

The letter ended there. Shirou instantly froze and stared at its last line. It didn't take a genius to realize what was being implied there. It seemed like Shirou wasn't as cautious as he thought he was.

_What does he want with me then? _ He wondered, biting his lips. Was it blackmail? Possibly. But based on the wording of the sentence, it was more like that Adam didn't know for sure if Shirou was actually there, and he wanted confirmation. Though there was no doubt that he had been seen, and possibly recognized. Moreover, that man had witnessed his techniques as well…

_What should I do? Confirm my presence there that night, or deny it? _Shirou's mind was racing full speed now. Depending on various factors, this situation could become either an advantage or disadvantage for him. After awhile, he decided to find out more about the Greengrass family first before replying. A glimpse into their past and current generations might prove helpful in figuring out what did they want with him.

"Seriously? The Greengrass family just invited you to their daughter's birthday party?" From behind Shirou came Ron's shocked voice. It was only then Shirou realized that almost all of the Weasleys' kids, except Percy, were reading the letter over his shoulder.

"It would appear so," he said with a hint of annoyance before putting away the letter.

"And did Adam Greengrass just ask you for advice about his daughter's present?" Fred asked loudly, didn't even bother to hide his surprise.

"Just when did you meet him? What is your relationship with that family?" Ron asked, glaring at the letter in Shirou's pocket.

"For your questions, I haven't met any of the Greengrasses before. At least after...eh…after coming back to the Dursleys anyway," Shirou sighed, pausing a little before continuing. "And I have no Idea why he asked me that either."

"Maybe he's looking for a potential son-in-law there, Harry," George jibbed, grinning mockingly. However, Shirou's unexpected reaction had made him look gobsmacked immediately after.

"Hmm… That's also a possibility, but I don't think that's the case here," to all of the Weasleys' shock, Shirou suddenly started thinking seriously.

"Don't tell me you actually like this Daphne Greengrass lady," Fred's eyes opened wide.

"Are you joking?" Shirou snorted at the twins' reactions. "I haven't even seen her before. Or I have, but forgot," he mumbled. "Anyway, can anyone please tell me about them?"

"They're Slytherins, Harry," Ron said, returning to his seat. "That's enough reason for you not to go to that party."

"From my knowledge, their family is not dark, but neutral in the last war," it was Arthur who spoke up. "And it's not like I have anything against Slytherins, but they're very slippery and ambitious. I think they would have to want something from you to invite you to one of their parties like that, Harry."

"It's obviously for Harry's fame, what else?" Ron continued. "They're just going to advantage of your amnesia, mate."

"Is that so?" Shirou raised an eyebrow before turning back to Arthur. "Mr. Weasley, do you know anything else about them?"

"Well..." The older wizard scratched the back of his head, trying to remember more details. "So far, I can tell that Adam is a good man, no, it wasn't very right, since that man is a bit too ambitious for his own good. But I don't think he's going to harm you either."

"Do you mean he strives for fame, or wealth, or something?" Shirou asked.

"Not exactly, he just like making up wild plans, you know?" Arthur answered, taking a sip on his tea. "He's already rich, and I don't recall ever hearing him say anything about wanting to join the political field, except for his seat in the school Board of Governor and his family's seat in the Wizengamot of course."

"So what does a man like that want with me? I mean, beside my fame. If he doesn't want fame or wealth like you said, then I'm pretty much useless, to be frank."

"I don't know, Harry. I really don't," Arthur shook his head. "Or maybe it's just like George said, he's finding a potential husband for one of his daughters. You know, the two of them have quite a long line of boys lined up already."

"And I'm most certain I'm not one of them," Shirou shrugged as Fred and George snorted. "Well, maybe I should reply to him soon."

"So you're going?" Ron asked. "I still think you shouldn't..."

"Yes, I'm going, Ron. It's rude to refuse an invitation like this. Besides, it would be a lie to say I'm not a little interested in what he wants with me."

"But dear, it can be dangerous..." Molly said worriedly from her seat. However, it was Arthur who defended Shirou.

"Don't worry Molly. I know Adam, he won't do anything to harm Harry. And I agree, refusing a personal invitation could be insulting."

Giving the wizard a grateful smile, Shirou rose from his seat and headed up to his and Ron's room to write a reply. He had already let the Greengrass owl come back as he planned to use Hedwig this time. Lately, the snowy owl seemed a bit agitated from not having anything to do anyway.

* * *

_Mister Greengrass._

_It's a pleasure to be personally invited to your daughter's birthday party. And I truly appreciate your concern about my recent condition. I'll make sure to be there on time for the party._

_Harry Potter._

_P/S: Yes, I've visited that jewelry shop in the back alley that you asked me about. I hope we could discuss in more details when we meet? It maybe late for this time but you can always visit it in other occasions. Also, I'm sorry but I'm just as clueless about presents for girls as you are. Please forgive me for not being able to assist you in such matter._

* * *

The short letter brought a smile to Adam Greengrass's lips as he read it. He certainly didn't expect Harry Potter to reply to his invitation so soon, especially when he saw his family owl came back early. However, this surely was a pleasant surprise.

"Why are you smiling like that, dear?" From the other side of the tea table he was sitting, his wife – Aurora Greengrass asked. Even after all these years of their marriage, Adam still found her beautiful every time he looked at her. And now they've got two beautiful and healthy daughters. Truly, what more could a man ask for?

Of course, but if only…

Quickly shaking his head to clear the thought that was about to emerge, Adam looked up at his wife. He was in a good mood from Harry Potter's letter. Let's not ruin it by thinking about unnecessary things.

"It's nothing, just a reply from one of the guests," he answered.

"Is that so? It's weird to see someone gets so happy from a mere reply," Aurora smiled.

"Well, I've asked his advice on something else, and his answer is just like what I thought."

"May I ask what is that?"

"Just a little surprise for the party, dear," Adam waved his hand with a grin. "It wouldn't be fun if I reveal that now, would it? Now let me write a reply for this man."

He then stood up and walked toward his private library. There were two letters that needed to be sent as soon as possible.

One of them for Harry Potter.

And the other, for the lovely Mrs. Zabini. It'd been quite awhile since he last met his old friend. She would be thrilled to hear of Harry's reply letter.

**End of Chapter 4.**


	5. The Greengrass Manor

_**Author's note: **_**Okay I'm a filthy liar ****about the whole quick update thing. But you guys aren't going to complain, right? Right? **

* * *

"I'm seriously having trouble with this wand, Albus," Shirou gritted his teeth as a weak Banishing Charm shoot out of his Phoenix wand toward one of the practice dummies, pushed it backward but only slightly. "It's rejecting my prana. I can feel it."

"So it's just as I feared," Dumbledore sighed. It was one week after their talk at the Burrow, and the two of them were now in Hogwarts' courtyard, Dumbledore had taken Shirou there for his basic spell training. Several dummies had been conjured and placed around as practice targets. For over two hours, the two of them had gone over the Levitation Charm, Disarming Charm, Stunning Charm and were currently at Banishing Charm. Unfortunately, none of the above was showing any satisfactory result.

Shirou, with his experience in controlling the flow of his od, had been able to perform those spells easily enough, despite still not understanding the meaning behind their wand movements and incantations. However, the power behind those charms was another problem. He couldn't make a feather lift off the ground, and even when Dumbledore had willingly take his Disarming and Stunning Charms directly, nothing happened except that the wand in the old wizard's hand twitched, but only a little.

"I've had this guess for awhile now, that since you aren't Harry Potter, his wand doesn't obey you," Dumbledore explained with a grim tone.

"I just wish it was just as simple as that," Shirou grimaced, spinning the Phoenix wand in his palm. "I afraid that since I'm not from this world, it's rejecting me. If that's the case, then no wand will ever obey my control."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," the Headmaster waved his wand and vanished the dummies. "We will have to get you a new wand to make sure. But that wand you're holding, it's the brother of Voldemort's wand. It might help our chance against him somehow..."

"Doesn't matter if I can't use it properly in the first place. And I won't take chance if it compromises my fighting capacity. Besides, I'm only using a wand to keep up my cover. As you've known already, I fight well enough without one."

_I'm sure a Hrunting through the heart will do the job much quicker than some incompetent spells from a non-obedient wand, _Shirou silently commented.

"Sure you do," Dumbledore sighed again. "But keeping up appearance is just as important. The question is how to get you a new wand. We can't go to Ollivanders, that man is too observant for him not to notice something out of place. Maybe I can send a letter to Gregorovitch or get you to a less well-known wandmaker..."

"Either way is fine by me, to be honest," Shirou shrugged. He had read in one of his book that the Ollivanders family was one of the best wandmakers that was still in business today, along with Gregorovitch, a foreigner.

"Anyway," Dumbledore put away his wand and held out his arm. "Let's return you to the Burrow for the day. There's no use practicing any longer in this condition."

Shirou agreed with a sigh and took Dumbledore's offered arm. One moment of extreme discomfort later, he found the two of them standing at the front gate of the Weasleys' house.

"I'll probably try Gregorovitch first," Dumbledore told him as the two of them said goodbye to each other. "I'll inform you as soon as I get his reply. Until next time, Shirou."

"See you later," Shirou said and started making his way back inside the house. Frankly, he was a bit disappointed with the result of their practice. Despite what he said, some of the spells Dumbledore taught him today proved to be very effective in disabling his opponents without harming them or revealing his swords.

_In that case, let's hope that Gregorovitch guy could find a suitable wand for me, _Shirou shrugged in resignation. It was even more depressing that after all those time, he still hadn't been successful in invading Molly Weasley's kitchen yet. Whenever the witch saw him in there, she just hustled him out of the way without as much as letting him state his reasons.

* * *

"Harry, it's almost time, are you ready yet?" Molly's voice came from outside of the door.

"Just a minute, Mrs. Weasley," Shirou replied. He was inside his and Ron's room, trying out his new formal wear for the party at the Greengrass manor, all the while regretting not to do so sooner. It was already five forty-five in the afternoon, and he surely didn't want to be late.

Turning back at the mirror, Shirou could see his reflection staring back at him. Trying not to think about the fact that it wasn't actually him in the mirror, he instead focused on the clothing. That morning, Molly had taken her time and went to Diagon Alley to got some new clothing for him, including what he was wearing now – a black tuxedo with matching trousers. Originally, the set was emerald green (It matched your eyes so well – said Molly). However, Shirou didn't like it and had asked the witch to charm it into black.

_Yes, this is much better, _Shirou nodded at himself. Frankly, he had been a bit worried, given what he had seen of wizarding attires, he thought that the formal wear wouldn't be much different, consisting of some kind of funny looking robe and laces. That was why he let out a sigh of relief when he first saw what Molly bought for him.

"Harry dear, you're gonna be late," Molly called again.

"I'm coming out," With a final glance at his reflection, he crossed the room and opened the door.

"You're so handsome in this," Molly exclaimed happily as he saw him. "It looks like black works too."

"I told you, Mrs. Weasley. Black works with almost everything," Shirou grinned.

As the two of them reached the living room, Shirou could feel the gaze of every Weasleys gathering for dinner, except Arthur, who was at work. For a few seconds, there was only silence as all of them were busy staring at him. Percy nodded in agreement of the outfit. The twins looked like they had just seen him for the first time, while Ron was speechless. Shirou could notice a gleam of jealousy in the boy's eyes but it quickly went away, replaced by a wry smile, as if he was trying to say 'Good luck, mate'. And lastly, Ginny, the youngest child, just couldn't take her eyes off of Shirou while her face blushing deeply. It made him a bit uncomfortable. Being gawked at that way by a girl was bad enough as he wasn't used to it, it didn't help that said girl was almost ten years younger than him.

Luckily, it wasn't long until Fred and George's catcalls broke the silence.

"With this, Harry, I'm sure you're gonna win the contest," Fred nodded proudly.

"Excuse me, what contest?" Shirou asked, a little confused.

"The one to become the future husband of a lovely girl from the Greengrasses, of course," George announced matter-of-factly, earning himself a glare from Ginny. But he either didn't notice or simply didn't care.

"Personally, I'd go for the older sister..." Fred started looking pensive, but it was obvious that he was just faking it.

"Fred, don't talk like that about a girl," Molly growled, making him flinch. However, his twin brother jumped in for the rescue.

"We just want to give little Harry some advices, especially when we've seen the two of them before and he hasn't."

"Thank you. But I think I'll choose just fine. My eyes are perfectly good now, remember?" Shirou grinned widely as he returned the joke

"Right they are. Then we will trust in your decision," The twins bowed, smiling ear to ear.

"Well, guess I have to go now. See you guys in a few hours, okay?" Shirou turned to the fireplace after promising to tell the twins which one of the Greengrasses sisters he picked, much to Molly's disapproval. He then listened to the witch's explanation on how to use the Floo network, with the warning that it would be quite uncomfortable for the first few times. While listening to her, Shirou thought that no matter how bad it was, it wouldn't be able to compare with a ride on the Knight Bus.

* * *

"Okay, I was wrong. That was one of the most uncomfortable moments ever. At least it ended quickly," Shirou mumbled after falling face first out of the Greengrasses' fireplace. He hastily picked himself up, hoping that no one was around to see that. However, he didn't have such luck.

"Are you… Harry Potter?" A hesitant voice of a girl came from in front of him as he was still bending down. Shirou looked up to see a young girl with blond hair and clear brown eyes, who looked a bit younger than the original Harry. But before he could reply, the girl hastily run off, shouting loudly.

"Mother, Father, Harry Potter just fell out of the fireplace. You didn't lie when you said he was coming tonight!"

"Nice reception," Shirou mumbled, feeling his face heat up a little as he stood straight up and started to brush the soot off of his clothing. There was no one other than him in the room. It was a fairly big room with a set of sofa and cushioned chairs in the middle, surrounding an expensive looking wooden tea table. Taking a glance around, Shirou could see several bookcases lined up against one wall while one of the other was filled with selves containing some kinds of odd looking artifacts, together with some family photos of four people. He could easily realize the girl earlier in several of them.

Shirou didn't have to wait for very long, as a few minutes later, the chirping noise of her voice started to return. But there were someone else as well.

"No, Astoria, it's rude," that was the voice of a man followed by the man himself when he rounded the corner into the room, followed by the girl. He was a middle aged good looking wizard, though from the look of it, Shirou could see that he wasn't someone to take on lightly. Sharp eyes, short but well kept haircut, together with a set of deep green tuxedo and trousers made him look like a well respected noble. Heck, he _was _a well respected noble, coming from a long pure blood lineage.

"Please, father. Just a signature," the girl, whose name was Astoria if Shirou wasn't wrong, pleaded, tugging onto her father's sleeve.

"I said no," the man gave her a sharp glare before turning to Shirou and smiled smoothly. His smile, despite appearing friendly on the surface, betrayed no emotion. "Welcome to Greengrass Manor. You must be Harry Potter. And you must have guessed already, I'm Adam Greengrass, who sent you the invitation. I believe you've already met my younger daughter, Astoria Greengrass? Please forgive her rudeness. She has been a big fan of Harry Potter since she was a child."

"Father, you're not supposed to say that," Astoria squealed at her father. However, just a second later, she turned to Shirou, smiled sweetly and held out her hand, blushing a little.

"Hello, I'm Astoria Greengrass. It's an honor to meet you, Mister Potter. I've heard a lot of things about you."

Hesitating a little, Shirou finally took her offered hand.

"Erm… Nice to meet you too, Miss Greengrass," he gave her a smile while looking straight into her eyes, making the girl blush even deeper.

_Eh… Alright, no more of that. It's so weird having a kid blush because of me… _He quickly made a mental note after seeing the reaction.

"Okay, Astoria, why don't you come back to the ballroom with your friends then?" Adam told his daughter and she happily ran off after giving him a nod, humming all the way.

"You have a very...err… lively daughter, Mister Greengrass," Shirou commented as he watched the girl leave. "Was I late? It seems like you've already had guests over."

"Oh no, not at all," Adam smiled politely. "Most of them arrived by apparating, that's why you don't see anyone here. And for Astoria, yes, some may think she's a bit _too _lively. This way, Mister Potter, let me show you the way to the ballroom."

Shirou nodded and followed Adam out to the hallway. As they walked, he continuously taking subtle looks around their surrounding, trying to remember as many details as possible. Despite Arthur's guarantee, one couldn't be too careful when venturing into an unfamiliar place.

The Greengrass manor, as large and spacious as it was, also had an ancient feel to it. Maybe it was because they used candles instead of electric light across the hallways, together with the old picture frames that were hung along the walls. Still, it was very different from Hogwarts, having a darker feel, and of course, not as big.

"So, Mister Greengrass, do you want to discuss about the jewelry shop?" After awhile, Shirou asked as they reached a grant staircase. The ballroom must be somewhere on the upper floors.

"Why yes, but not now, Mister Potter," Adam turned to him and smiled. "Let's just enjoy ourselves for the time being. This is a party, is it not? Today is my daughter's birthday. It'd be rude to her if I didn't at least introduce you two. Also, some of the guests here will be delighted to see you, I'm sure."

"Oh, about that I have no doubt. It indeed wasn't very good of me not to at least greet them," Shirou nodded politely. Adam was right, there was no need to rush into it. The evening had just started after all. Sooner or later, he would figure out just what that man wanted to do with him.

Two floors up later, Adam finally led Shirou through a large double door on the end of the right hallway. The ballroom was large with high ceiling, illuminated in the light of hundreds floating candles, though not as grant as Hogwarts' Great Hall. At the far end of the room, a band whose name Shirou didn't know was playing on a high stage. There were tables set up across the floor, filled with many kind of dishes, some of which he hadn't even seen before. And apparently, he was one of the last guests arrived as the room had already filled with people talking, or enjoying the party food and drinks.

"Wow..." was all Shirou could mutter at the sight in front of him. He had never come to a party of this kind before. Even if he had, Shirou was sure that it wouldn't be this grant without the aid of magic.

"I take it you're impressed?" Adam chuckled lightly next to him. "I'm flattered. Let me introduce you to my other daughter then. Oh, there she is."

The two of them then started making way to the middle of the room, where standing two girls, one with brown, curvy hair, who was talking quite excitedly with her friend, whom Shirou could only see as a slightly older version of Astoria.

"Mister Potter," Adam said after calling over the two girls. "This is Daphne Greengrass, my eldest daughter, tonight's birthday girl," he introduced, indicating the blond girl before turning to her friend. "And the lovely lady here is Miss Tracey David, my daughter's close friend. Girls, this is Harry Potter."

"Good evening, Potter," Tracey smiled and waved at Shirou. Daphne, on the other hand, only stood there and looked at him coldly for awhile before saying, mostly to her father.

"Of course I know who he is. We're in the same year at Hogwarts."

"Now, now, don't be rude," Adam frowned. "You may know Mister Potter. But I'm sure it's not the other way around, isn't it?"

"Oh, right," after pondering for a moment, Daphne finally said, still in an even tone. "My apologize, Potter, for forgetting about your...condition. I hope I'm not being too rude? Anyway, thank you for coming and please enjoy the party."

"I certainly am," Shirou bowed slightly. "Happy Birthday to you, Miss Greengrass. And it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss David."

"Oh, just David is fine, Potter," Tracey waved her hand, grinning widely. "We'll see you later then, goodbye."

With that, the two girls went off and soon disappeared into the crowd.

"Well, that's… interesting," Shirou said, scratching his head. Daphne didn't seem to like him very much, which was a bit odd after seeing her younger sister. Shirou didn't really mind though.

"Don't let it upset you," Adam gave him an apologetic smile. "That girl, she's like that with almost everybody. She's really a good girl if you get to know her."

"I'm sure she is, Mister Greengrass," Shirou returned his smile as the two went deeper into the room.

"Well, like Daphne said, please enjoy the party. I, as the head of house, also have to go and greet the guests myself. So please make yourself at home. We will talk about the jewelry shop after I came back."

After patting Shirou's shoulder, Adam went off on his own, leaving him alone in the middle of the crowd. Looking around, Shirou hoped to see some familiar face, but he knew from the start that it was impossible. He didn't know anyone from this world except Dumbledore, Hermione and the Weasleys.

_Well, it's not like I looked forward to that anyway, _he shrugged. _May as well enjoy some food while looking around here for awhile._

With that in mind, Shirou approached the nearest food table. No matter which world he was in, food and cooking were still one of his passions. After taking a bit of almost everything (there were some dishes that looked rather...unique, so Shirou decided not to touch them), he started to sample them one by one. They were good, of that he had no doubt. But for some reason, Shirou found himself prefer Molly's cooking more, they were lighter and easier to eat.

By that time, Shirou could have already felt the gaze of many people on him. It was understandable, he was Harry Potter after all. Even if he wasn't, it was still strange for a thirteen years old to attend this kind of party alone without guardians or friends. Being not used to the attention, Shirou found it was gradually getting under his skin bit by bit, but he managed to keep himself distracted enough for his feeling not to show on his face.

_Think of something else, Shirou, _he kept reminding himself that and started thinking about Dumbledore and their lesson. However, it only served to annoy him even further, so Shirou shifted his thoughts to the Weasleys instead. Now that he thought about it, Shirou realized that he might have slipped something several times. From the time he bowed to Molly at King Cross Station, which wasn't a British custom, to the way he sometime speak and act more mature than he was supposed to around the Weasleys kids. Luckily, as Molly and Arthur hadn't seen much of him, they didn't realize anything out of place.

Ron wasn't much of a threat at the moment either, as from what Shirou saw, the redhead was a bit thick. Fred and George hadn't show any sign of suspicion either. So all in all, Shirou thought that he was still safe, but he would have to be more careful in the future, especially after returning to Hogwarts. He doubted that the professors wouldn't notice something if he behaved too carelessly.

The thoughts helped Shirou cleared his mind. He then looked around once again, ignoring the looks people were shooting him all around, and caught a glimpse of the Greengrasses sisters talking to a beautiful woman in pure white dress whom he guessed was their mother.

Seeing the two of them together made a grin formed on Shirou's face as he remembered about the joke with the twins before coming to the Greengrass manor.

_Well, looks like Fred is right, the older sister is definitely cuter, _he silently commented.

"Daphne is a very pretty girl, don't you think?" Suddenly came the voice of another girl and Shirou nodded in agreement without thinking. However, just a moment later, he realized his mistake and instantly turned around, wide eyed and blushing a little. That was when he saw Tracey standing right behind him, smirking mischievously.

"Oh, don't let me interrupt you, Potter," she waved her hand playfully while mocking him. "You can keep staring all you want. I won't even tell Daphne either, so you should be thankful."

"No, it's not like that. You've got it wrong," Shirou hastily retorted, wanting to smack his head against a metaphor wall for letting Fred's word affect his action.

"So you like Astoria instead?" Tracey raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise. "I know that girl had a bit of crush on you, but isn't she a little too young?"

"Way too young," Shirou mumbled, feeling his face went even hotter.

"Good, at least you have limit," Tracey giggled before patting his shoulder. "But hey, Daphne is still available. There are lots of boys coming after her now but as far as I can tell, she isn't dating anyone. This may be your chance, you know?"

"I tell you it's not like that," Shirou groaned, hiding his face in his palm

"There's no need to be shy. I know you're a Gryffindor and she's a Slytherin but…"

Tracey kept on talking without noticing that Shirou's attention wasn't on her anymore. Just a few seconds earlier, he could feel someone's gaze that sent a chill down his spine, not the normal, curious looks he had been receiving, but something different. Someone was watching him very closely, like that of a hawk looking down at its prey. Shirou quickly glanced around, trying to find the source of his discomfort.

"Hey, Potter, are you listening?" Tracey asked after seeing him acting strangely. However, Shirou didn't answer her. He had found that person. On the far corner of the room stood a woman who looked like was around her late twenties at most. Her long black hair was rolled neatly into a knot on the back of her head. She was wearing a strapless, high cut, black dress, accompanied by a pair of gloves of the same color that went up above her elbows. Her beauty was breath taking, but also emitting a very dangerous aura. Shirou could tell, from the way she looked at him sharply, to the seductive smirk on her lips, that she was interested in him. But for what, he wasn't able to figure out.

"I'm sorry, David," turning back to a confused Tracey, Shirou said quickly, trying to give her a smile. "But I just saw a friend over there. I'll catch you later, okay?"

"Oh… Okay?" Being taken by surprise, the girl gave him a hesitant wave, but Shirou was no longer looking at her. He instantly turned to where the woman was. However, she had already gone, so was the chill he was feeling earlier.

"Damn," He grunted while making his way through the crowd, looking around all along but failed to find her again.

_Who was she? _Shirou frowned. _I better ask Mister Greengrass later to see if she was one of the guests…_

"Harry," for a second time, Shirou was startled by someone sneaking up on him. He immediately turned around, clutching his chest, trying to control his breath. Behind him was a round faced boy who was obviously also surprised by his reaction.

"I'm sorry," the boy said quickly, panicking a little. "I didn't mean to surprise you."

"No harm done," Shirou waved his hand, trying to remember the boy's name. "Neville, right? We rode that carriage together."

"Yes, glad that you remembered me," Neville smiled nervously. "So you're invited as well? I didn't want to come, but Gran insisted that it's good for me to attend these kind of events."

"So far the only good thing I see here is the food," Shirou answered. He was still throwing glances around occasionally, trying to catch another glimpse of the mysterious woman. But it was like she had vanished without a trace.

"You're looking for someone?" Neville asked, but Shirou wasn't able to answer before the boy continued. "Oh, Harry, this is my Gran, Augusta Longbottom."

Hearing his words, Shirou looked up to see an old witch, dressing in the weirdest way he had ever seen before, even by Wizarding standard. She was wearing a stern expression on her face while looking at the two boys.

"You must be Harry Potter," she said, offering her hand. "Augusta Longbottom. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm very sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident that happened to you. And I assure you that you always have our support."

"Likewise, Madam Longbottom," Shirou took her hand and smiled. "And I really appreciate your good intention."

"Very well," Augusta nodded firmly. "I see that you've met my unworthy grandson, Neville. It's good to see him have friends like you. If only he had been more talented and brave like his father… I'm sure you've heard of Frank?"

"Ah… yes, I've read about him before," Shirou said while subtly glancing at Neville. The poor boy looked visibly uncomfortable at the way the conversation was going. "I'm sorry for what happened for your son and his wife."

"You don't have to," the old witch waved her hand in a dismissing manner. "They fought bravely and I'm proud of them. I just hope Neville here took after his father, even a little. But so far it's been disappoint."

On her side, Neville was now fidgeting even more. His face was bright red and tears are forming on the corner of his eyes. Shirou sighed inwardly before turning back to Augusta.

"I'm sure Neville is going to make you proud one day, Madam Longbottom," he said solemnly. "I may not remember much, but I remember enough to know that being sorted into Gryffindor means something. The Sorting Hat must have seen something in him that led to its decision. I believe he had potentials, but lacked confidence. Maybe, just maybe, if he wasn't constantly reminded how inferior he was compared to his father, he might be able to grow."

Shirou heaved a sigh after finished speaking. However, there was only silence replied him. Curious, he glanced up only to see a wide eyed Augusta and a shocked Neville, whose jaw dropped open, staring at him in disbelief.

"Oh… I'm sorry if I appeared rude," he quickly apologized.

"No, it's fine," after awhile, the witch finally broke out of her trance. She blinked at him. "You truly are a good person, Mister Potter. I've never seen anyone defending my grandson like you just did."

"I just said what was on my mind."

"And strangely, I can't blame you for that," Augusta then gave him a crooked smile which Shirou guessed was very rare, given how surprised Neville was when he saw it. She then said goodbye to him and motioned her grandson to follow her. The two of them then went over to greet another group of guests, but not before Neville turned around and gave Shirou a grateful nod.

_Oh shoot, I acted too mature again, _Shirou sighed heavily after calming down. Apparently, the conversation with the Longbottoms had temporarily pushed the mysterious woman in back out of his mind.

* * *

"Ah, Mister Potter, how are you enjoying our party?" After an hour or so, Adam finally found Shirou again as he was busy tasting a strange looking dessert, which had taken him fifteen minutes debating with himself whether it was safe enough to eat.

"Wonderful," Shirou smiled. "Thank you for inviting me today, Mister Greengrass."

"You're most welcome. After all, you agreed to help me with the Jewelry shop."

With that sentence, the atmosphere suddenly became tense between the two of them. Slowly, Shirou put down the place he was holding, shifting his mind into battle mode as he shaped up several swords inside his Reality Marble, waiting to be summoned.

"Ah, right, the jewelry shop," he said coolly. "of course, how may I help you with that?"

"Well," Adam looked at him, smiling. "You said you've been there before. Could that 'before' be a particular evening when a fight broke out near that back alley?"

"Perhaps. There were many fights in the Diagon Alley these days."

"You know which one I am talking about, Mister Potter. You wouldn't be here tonight otherwise."

"Right, right," Shirou sighed. "I was there that night. What of it?"

"Then you must have seen the fight?" Adam asked, sipping on his wine glass. Shirou nodded without saying anything.

"Then, again, did you see a fighter, who arrived last, but managed to defeat all the other seven using some kind of wandless magic and archery?"

Shirou snickered at the question. By now, he'd already known that Adam knew the identity of that fighter.

"If I say no, would you let the matter slide?" He asked, looking at the older wizard, who was slowly shaking his head with an amused grin.

"Thought so. So what do you require of him?"

"I want his opinion on something, at least for now," Adam replied, pulling out a notebook with brown leather cover. He placed it open on the table in front of them. Taking quick look at the content, Shirou could see that it was a collection of the 'Daily Prophet' articles. All of them were about the fights that had been happening between pure blood and muggleborn kids from the start of July.

"I don't know if he follows the news or not," he explained. "So can you please tell me what he would think if he read them?"

Of course, Shirou had been reading about them at The Burrow. Something didn't sit right with him. All of those fights, they happened seemingly at random. The pure blood kids, who provoked the fights, had been different every time, at least that was for those who were captured by the Aurors. They had no attack pattern or uniform. If one were to look at them seperately, they might even seem like some normal street fights that could happen anytime.

Yes, at the first glance, they were totally random.

"So?" Adam asked.

"You must have noticed it too, Mister Greengrass. They're completely unrelated. Or at least, that's how it is on the surface."

"Oh?" The wizard raised an eyebrow. "Please enlighten me."

"If I were that fighter you asked about, I would say they're well planned," Shirou said, still looking at the notebook. "The first, and maybe only thing that strikes me as odd in these articles, is that every single time, the pure blood attackers are different. If they're acting independently and truly at random, then there must be some faces showed at least twice. It looked like they had already divided into groups beforehand, and only allow one to act at a time. That speaks of organized and planned crimes. Not to mention all the group have a similarity that would easily be missed. In each of them, there's someone a bit older than the rest, and clearly more experienced, at least on the particular night we were talking about. Those are group leaders, if I have to guess."

"Is that everything?" Adam asked, clearly excited as he carefully observe the leftover wine in his glass.

"Maybe not, this is totally guesswork, but I suspect there is someone else behind all of this. A boss to control all of them and their actions."

"An interesting theory, Mister Potter. Care to explain?"

"Before that, let's talk about the purpose. I can only see those fights were provoked in order to deepen the conflict, which was already deep, between the pure blood and the muggleborns, or to distract us from something bigger that's about to happen, or even both. They can't just organize all this just for fun, can they?"

"I don't think they can. Please go on."

"All of this happened very recently, Mister Greengrass. And as you can see, they're well executed. Unless those kids have been spending their time at Hogwarts planning for all of this, there must be someone who is directing them from the shadow. I'm not saying the former can't happen. But when you think about the purposes, unless I was wrong, then there is more chance that it's the latter."

"Very well. I must say. Very well, Mister Potter," Adam grinned and nodded in delight as he picked up the notebook and put it away. "However, are you sure it's a good idea to tell me about all that? What if..."

He suddenly paused. Instantly, Shirou could feel the tip of a wand pressed against his lower back. It seemed like Adam had taken advantage of their talk to walk behind Shirou. Of course, he knew about that even without looking but did nothing, waiting to see what trick the man had up his sleeves.

"What if I was the 'boss' that you were talking about? Or at least one of his henchmen. I could see you as a dangerous individual and decided to get rid of you, Mister Potter," he whispered. But to his surprise, Shirou just snorted in return.

"If that was the case, Mister Greengrass..." he replied coldly, and even before Adam could react, a short sword appeared in Shirou's hand in reverse grip, its tip pointed toward the older man's stomach. He had purposely positioned it so that none of the guests around them could see the object. "...You'd be dead even before the first spell left your wand. You've seen what I can do after all."

Silence fell between the two of them for a moment before Shirou felt the wand being pulled back. And from behind him, Adam suddenly broke into laughter. Shirou immediately vanished the sword.

"Impressive, Mister Potter," he said after calming down. "I wasn't wrong inviting you tonight after all. Thank you for the enlightening discussion. Please keep enjoying our party. And I assure you, we will see each other again soon."

After slightly raising his now empty glass at Shirou, Adam Greengrass turned around and retreated into the crowd.

"Yeah, I have no doubt about that," Shirou sighed. Now that his party mood had been ruined completely, he decided that it was time to go home. But he needed to say goodbye to Neville and Tracey, and maybe Daphne and Astoria as well.

-Scene Break-

After the party, Adam Greengrass stood in a corner of the ballroom, watching the guests left. He guessed the boy had left much earlier, but he wasn't upset with him at all.

"So, have you got what you need, Adam?"

Turning to the direction of the voice, Adam saw a woman in strapless black dress standing there, smirking at him. He returned her smile and poured her a glass of wine, which she accepted and started sipping on.

"Of course, it's even better than I expected," he answered.

"And?"

"It's just as we suspected, that's not Harry Potter," Adam concluded. "Polyjuice, Glamour Charm, or whatever else he used, or what happened to the real Potter boy, we don't know. But I'm sure that's not him."

"And what makes you say such crazy thing?" The woman teased. "Harry Potter is the symbol of our hope, the hero who vanquished the Dark Lord. Who would dare to pretend to be him? Right under the noses of the Weasleys and Dumbledore even."

"I don't know about the Weasleys," Adam shook his head. "But I'm willing to bet this house that Dumbledore knew about this. He was the one who announced to the world about Harry's amnesia, remember? Now we can be certain that it was only a fluke, a cover for whoever that was to be able to act as Potter."

"Also," he continued after a pause. "I've showed him the articles and asked for his opinion. He arrived at the exact same conclusion as us, using the same arguments. That's something I don't think the real Harry Potter would be capable of, not with that accuracy."

He pondered it for a moment. It was true, as a member of the Wizengamot and Hogwarts' Board of Governor, Adam had enough resources to keep an eyes on the Potter boy. Admittedly, he only did it because of the interesting but mysterious things that just keep happening around said boy, but in the end it turned into an unexpected advantage. Harry Potter, who was undoubtedly brave and loyal, wouldn't have enough wit and experience to give such accurate deduction in such a small amount of time, with only newspaper articles as evidences. He was a fool by no mean, but there was a limit on what a thirteen years old could do.

"And not to mention what he could do, Adam," the woman said, pulling Adam out of his thoughts. "He sensed me looking at him from across the room full of people. And he...I saw him threatened you with that sword, you know?" she grinned mockingly.

"Oh drop it," Adam glared at her, but the two of them soon burst into a fit of laughter. He continued after they'd regained composure. "You're right. Wandless conjuration, archery, and those questionable arrows he used. I knew from that even night that he wasn't Potter. I just wanted to confirm it, you know, and testing him along the way."

"From the look of it. I'd say he passed with flying colors," the woman nodded. It was at that moment, Adam realized that she was slowly rubbing her left forearm.

"Is it burning?" He asked, casually turning back to his wine.

"More like itching," she replied without missing a beat. "But it's becoming worse and worse lately. It's going to happen soon, what we've been preparing for."

"Then we need to recruit him as soon as possible, whoever that Harry is," Adam mumbled before turning to his companion and smiled sadly. "But for now, I think you should leave. It wouldn't do for my wife and kids to see you and me together for too long. They shouldn't know about any of this."

"Besides, that woman hates me," she snickered, putting down her glass and quickly left the room, blending in with the rest of the leaving guests.

_Well, that certainly went better than I thought, _Adam smiled contentedly. _Now I have to think of another chance for me and 'Mister Potter' to meet. But that can wait, right now, I need some rest…_

With that in mind, he then summoned several house elves and instructed them to clean up the room before looking for his wife. Tonight, Adam Greengrass had no doubt that he was going to have a very peaceful sleep.

**End of Chapter 5.**


	6. Deception and Guilt

_**Author's note: **_**New chapter is out. I'm sorry for any grammar mistake that the previous chapter had. I tried to weed them out of this one, but still...**

**Secondly, there isn't going to be any Holy Grail or Holy Grail War in this story. I'm trying to reduce the size of the cast, not adding another bunch into it. So by now I think everyone can guess that the 'itching arm' from the last chapter was actually the Dark Mark, not a Command Seal, right?**

* * *

To Shirou, the rest of July passed in a blink of an eye. Life at the Burrow wasn't what he expected when he first came to this world, but it was a welcoming change of pace nevertheless. Originally, he had thought that his purpose here was to fulfill his dream to help people from some kind of threat. However, after almost a month lazing around, Shirou still hadn't done anything more than fighting off some thugs in a street fight. Even if what Dumbledore said was true, the infamous Dark Wizard Voldemort that he was supposed to take down hadn't even returned from his fake death yet. Nobody even knew when that would happen. And from what Shirou could see, and totally understand, most people in this world didn't want to believe that that day would ever come.

There was still the scheme behind all the recent fights between the pure blood and muggleborn teens. However, Shirou wasn't able to do anything about it at the moment ever since he started living with the Weasleys. Since he was sharing a room with Ron, there was no chance for him to venture around Diagon Alley in the evenings to stop the fighting, so all he could do was read about them on the Daily Prophet. The frequency of them happening was still random as ever. There had been seven more fights since that night. At least a dozen muggleborns had been admitted into St. Mungo's and some pure blood arrested. Luckily, there wasn't any serious casualty.

His thoughts then started drifting back to Daphne Greengrass's party. Despite saying that they would meet again, there was still no word from them. Shirou couldn't help but wonder when Adam was going to contact him. He knew he was tested at Daphne's birthday party, and he could be sure Adam knew something that he didn't.

Sighing heavily, Shirou finally decided to wake up. It was still early in the morning, but there was no purpose of lying around in bed anyway. He needed to start his physical training again. Even though Avalon was able to fix several remaining problems and Shirou himself was making up for an extended period of being physically abused and neglected, this body was still too fragile, making it dangerous for him to apply Reinforcement. The fact that it was now starting its grow spurt didn't help much in determining its exact limit either.

_But again, if I do it right, I'll be able to make this body at least as strong as my original one. I still have years ahead of me to develop it after all, _Shirou thought as he stepped out of the house. The thought itself left a bad taste in his mind, but he quickly reminded himself that no matter how much he hated it, he had no choice but to use this body. Either that or dying, and the latter definitely wasn't an option.

* * *

"Harry dear, can you please get the door?" Shirou heard Molly asked from the kitchen after some knocks on the Burrow's front door. He was sitting at the dining table, reading a book about some magical bloodlines, trying to figure out more about the Greengrass family (Ron had bolted the room as soon as he saw Shirou pulled the book out). Unfortunately, there wasn't much to discover. Shirou was a bit disheartened, but understanding. In fact, he admitted that he would be surprised if those families consented to have their detailed history getting published to the entire public.

"Of course, Mrs. Weasley," shouting back his answer, Shirou closed the book with a sigh and made to the door.

_It must be her, _he thought grimly. Earlier in the morning, Molly had offered him during their breakfast to throw him a small birthday party. At first, Shirou was taken by surprise as he didn't really remember Harry Potter's birthday. After recovering, he tried to decline, saying he didn't want to be a bother. However, he finally gave in before the Weasley matriarch's insistence. In the end, it was decided that Shirou would have a small, simple party with only his close friends, namely the Weasleys and Hermione Granger. He frowned a little at the suggestion. If possible, he would want to avoid being around Harry's friends for as long as he could, especially that Granger girl, who was very logical and observant, if Ron and the twin's words were to be trusted. His slips might go unnoticed by the Weasleys, but it would be a huge risk to behave recklessly in front of her.

Much to Shirou's dismay, he couldn't find any excuse not to invite Hermione to her closest friend's' birthday party. Not to mention that she was going to stay at the Burrow with them for the rest of the summer for the upcoming Quidditch Worldcup.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down as he opened the door, Shirou instantly caught sight of the bushy haired witch that he met a month ago. Hermione, who was fidgeting nervously on the doorstep, beamed up as soon as she saw him.

"Harry! Happy Birthday," She said, smiling. But Shirou could make out a hint of concern in her eyes. It looked like Hermione still wasn't able to get over what happened to 'Harry' at the end of the last school year.

Shirou felt his gut twisted painfully again as he steeled himself not to let her know about what really happened, at least before she could forgive herself. If Harry's amnesia was enough to affect her that strongly, what would happen once she figure out that he was really dead?

Despite his earlier resolve, Shirou found himself making a mental note to speak with her later. He was no expert, but it didn't take one to know that it would be way harder for Hermione to get over it if she was left alone, or even with Ron Weasley for that matter. He was a decent bloke, but unluckily equipped with an emotion range of a teaspoon, which wasn't very suited for comforting someone else.

"Hermione," quickly set aside his thoughts for the moment, Shirou smiled brightly at her. If anything, acting naturally and comfortably might just help. "Come on in. we've been waiting for you."

Reaching out to help Hermione with her trunk, which was noticeably heavier than he remembered from the last time they met, Shirou then led her inside.

"This is my first time here," she said as the two of then walked along the hallway. "Ron's house is quite..."

"Unique? Strange?" Shirou supplied with a grin. Hermione smiled and nodded in agreement.

"There must be magic involved holding all those rooms up."

"That's what I think too," Shirou shrugged. "I was quite surprised that it didn't collapse when I first got here you know. But it's still a nice place. The yard and orchard are wonderful, I sneaked there a few times when I need to be alone to read. Ron wasn't very thrilled every time I started reading and didn't play with him," he sighed, shaking his head.

Hermione's eyes went wide for a second before a gentle smile appeared on her lips. "That must have surprised him somehow. You weren't exactly the studious type, you know, before..."

"Figured," Shirou snorted. "That was what Ron said too. But I think that I'm already in a disadvantage, not remembering what I learned over the past years, so I need to put extra effort in learning everything I can before coming back to Hogwarts..."

However, before he was able to finish his speech, Hermione quickly leaned ahead and grabbed his free hand. Shirou almost flinched, but managed to keep himself in check. The hurtful look Hermione gave him back in Hogwarts' Great Hall had indeed left a strong impression. Looking at the girl, he heaved a sigh of relief after seeing a bright smile on her face.

"That's wonderful, Harry," Hermione exclaimed happily. "I'm so happy to see you being serious about studying. Not that you were lazy before… better than Ron anyway. I can help. I still keep the notes from our previous years. And I can answer any question you have too. When we come back to Hogwarts, we can go to the library and study some more there, helping you catch up, you know..."

Slowly, she trailed off after noticing Shirou staring at her with transparent amusement. Hermione's cheeks then flushed slightly as he started grinning.

"Wh...What?" She stammered, glaring at him. It wasn't as threatening as she wanted though.

"It's nothing. I just find it funny that you've planned for our study time at Hogwarts already," Shirou waved his hand. The girl's enthusiasm for learning somehow reminded him of a certain magus. He then told her gratefully. "I appreciate the help, and would like to look at the notes for now, is that okay?"

Hermione nodded. Their conversation was then interrupted as they entered the kitchen, where Molly greeted the newcomer, leaving Shirou alone with his thoughts for a moment.

_The offer to study with the smartest witch in their year certainly has its merit. But it isn't without risk, _he pondered. The risk was enough for him to try and distance himself from the others. He could borrow the notes and read them without actually having to meet Hermione regularly. She and Ron would be hurt by his action. But it was still better than them figuring out he wasn't actually Harry Potter.

Or was it?

Shirou knew that sooner or later the act would be over, and they were going to know the truth. Wouldn't they be hurt even more when that time finally came around? Besides, they were Harry's best friend. It was just cruel to keep them in the dark about their friend's true condition.

He didn't deny that if he told Ron and Hermione now, they would be devastated, but it would be much more merciful than to let them know later on, or even worse, finding out about it themselves. They would resent him, that went without saying. But Shirou didn't particularly care about that. He didn't have any emotional attachment to them after all, sans the guilt he was feeling, which was mostly likely to go away once the secret was out.

So why hadn't he told them already?

The answer was easy. He didn't trust them. The death of 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' was to be kept secret from general populace. And the more people who knew about it, the harder that task became. Even if he didn't know when Voldemort would raise to power once again, Shirou's instinct was telling him there was still something else very strange going on in the Wizarding World right then. It wouldn't do for the society to suffer a heavy morale hit from the death of their hero.

_Maybe after they've proved themselves to be able to keep secrets, maybe… _ Shirou reassured himself and the guilt surging inside his chest. He couldn't tell them now, not without the risk of it being leaked. _But how are those two going to prove themselves if I'm going to push them away?"_

In the end, he decided to deal with that dilemma later since it was giving him a headache. Turning around, Shirou saw the two witches had finished talking and Hermione was walking toward him.

"I'm going to share a room with Ginny," she said. "Do you know where it is?"

"Of course," Shirou smiled. "Here, let me carry the trunk up for you."

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione returned the smile and followed him upstairs. "By the way, you look much better without glasses. And those clothes are tad nicer than those hand-me-down from your cousin. When I received your last letter, I was surprised, you know. You've always said that you didn't want to let your relatives know about your parent's money."

"I had a change of mind, I guess," Shirou shrugged. "The glasses are quite a bother sometimes. I might have said that before, but I don't remember. And frankly, now that I think about it, there's no reason for me to let the Dursleys affect my life like that. Besides, I could just say that they're gifts."

"Well...I guess you have a point," Hermione hesitated, looking at him worriedly. "Just don't give them a reason to hurt you, okay?"

"Don't worry, I won't."

Hermione then gave him a weak smile before asking.

"Okay. So, where is Ron?"

* * *

Ron was in his and Harry's bedroom, pondering about all the change his best mate was showing during the time of his stay at the Burrow. He knew he was slow, and a bit thick at times. But those changes were way too obvious that the only way for him not to notice was to be blind.

First and the most obvious of all, was when Harry started reading. At first, Ron just shrugged it off as Harry told him he needed to make up for the forgotten knowledge. However, more than once, Ron had caught him read some thick books about pure blood families and their traditions, the kind that he'd never touched before. Even weirder, Harry seemed as if he actually enjoy those books, turning down most of his offer to play chest or quidditch for the sake of reading.

And then there was the fact that Harry associated himself with the Greengrasses. Despite what his father said, anyone who came from Slytherin couldn't be trusted. The fact that they contacted Harry right after he lost his memory was suspicious enough on its own. They even invited him to their daughter's birthday party no less.

_Maybe it's because of his amnesia, _Ron pondered. Of course, having no memory of those snakes and what they had done to him could make him let his guard down around them. But it didn't explain his Harry's sudden studying enthusiasm.

He sighed. Since the day Ron heard that Harry would come to the Burrow earlier than normal, he had expected to have more time to play with his best mate, but things just didn't go that way. It was almost like having another Percy walking around the house. At least Harry still knew how to joke around. The only thing that was improved was the occasional meals. To the Weasleys' surprise, Harry had actually been able to talk Molly into sharing her kitchen with him once in awhile. And every time he was the cook, the meal's quality improved greatly. It wasn't that his mother was a bad cook. She was wonderful and Ron loved her cooking. But Harry was just on an entirely different level.

_And I have no idea he could cook like that, _Ron grinned, looking forward to the dinner, before remembering that it would be Harry's birthday party. That meant Harry wouldn't be in the kitchen. There was no way his mother would've allowed that.

Some knocks on the door yanked him out of his thoughts about food. Just as Ron sat up on his bed, Hermione's voice came from the other side.

"Ron, you in there?"

Getting off the bed, Ron hurriedly walked over and opened the door. There standing his bushy haired friend.

"Hermione," he greeted her, smiling broadly, before noticing Harry was behind her. Nervously, Ron took a glance at his best mate's hands. However, he wasn't as subtle as he thought.

"I left the book downstairs, Ron," rolling his eyes, Harry grinned, making him let out a sigh of relief. Ron then stepped aside and let the other two come in. The three of them then took their seats on Harry's bed.

"How is your summer, guys?" Hermione asked as she looked between the two boys.

"Good," Harry answered. "Ron's family is very welcoming. The Dursleys wasn't exactly so, though they generally left me alone so I guess it wasn't that bad," he shrugged.

"Same as ever," Ron replied, throwing himself down Harry's bed and stretched his arms. "Though Harry's sudden reading interest unnerved me a bit."

"It's not a bad thing, Ron," Hermione scolded lightly. "I'm glad that Harry's finally taken his study seriously."

"But it's summer vacation," Ron retorted. "It's for us to have fun."

"Studying is fun if you put your mind into it."

"Only you, Hermione. Only you," Ron shook his head and murmured in resignation. Just as Hermione turned away, he looked at Harry and mouthed 'Mental', making him chuckled a little. Unfortunately, it didn't escape the witch.

"I saw that, Ronald," she squatted him on the arm. But before Ron was able to get his revenge, the serious look in her eyes made him back off completely. And he knew what was going to happen. After all, the two of them had agreed since the night Harry was still unconscious in the Hospital Wing, that they would tell him tonight, once they were alone and away from other people.

"What?" Harry, no doubt noticed the sudden change in the mood, raised an eyebrow while looking back and forth between Ron and Hermione. After a moment of silence, Hermione finally took a deep breath to prepare herself before turning to face Harry.

"Harry," She said solemnly. "There's something we want to tell you."

* * *

Shirou looked at the two teens in front of him, wondering what they wanted to talk about since Hermione suddenly got all serious. It looked like they'd waited until this moment to reveal something that he wasn't aware of.

"Harry," Hermione said. "There's something we want to tell you."

"I'm listening."

"Erm… Do you remember anything about… Sirius Black?" The girl eyed him with concern.

"Sirius Black the Azkaban prisoner?" Shirou asked after awhile. He had read about the Black family line and had seen his name popped up once or twice. But since Sirius was the most recent Black, there was almost nothing else to be seen within those books. However, Dumbledore had also mentioned his name when Shirou first met him.

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "Do you remember anything about him?"

"Well, not much actually. He escaped Azkaban and was in Hogwarts..._that _night," Shirou said, still looking at her with a little confusion. What does Sirius Black have anything to do with him?

"If I'm not wrong, he was captured afterward and was being locked up inside Hogwarts when I first woke up," he continued. "I don't even actually remember that part. It was Dumbledore who filled me in."

"That's everything?" Ron asked and Shirou nodded. The redhead and Hermione then shared a glance that Shirou couldn't understand. Hermione then turned back to him.

"Harry, listen. This may be a surprise for you but..." she hesitated. "Sirius Black is your Godfather. He is also innocent but was thrown into Azkaban without a trial."

Shirou raised an eyebrow. Now _that _was a new piece of information he didn't expect. However…

"You just said he was innocent?" He asked. The man was basically a stranger to him, but hearing about him being in jail despite not having committed the crime had piqued Shirou's interest. "Then what happened to him that night?"

"After he was captured, professor Dumbledore had questioned him under Veritaserum and found out Mister Black was actually innocent," Hermione explained. "However, by that time, the Ministry was already on their way to...erm...retrieve him. And by retrieve I meant to throw him for the Dementors."

"So he was..." Shirou paled a little. It was partially because of those vile creatures that he ended up where he was now. And now an innocent man was harmed too, even without a trial. He knew that the Wizarding World was already corrupted and unfair, but that was really pushing the boundary.

"Oh no. Harry, he wasn't kissed," seeing his reaction, Hermione quickly wave her hand to reassure him. "In fact, he escaped again."

"Really? How?"

"Well, you see..." She glanced toward Ron once again before continuing. "There's a little artifact called the 'Time Turner' that I used to attend classes during our third year..."

From then on, for about twenty minutes, Shirou sat still listening to Hermione explaining what a 'Time Turner' was and telling him about what really happened that night. Apparently, Dumbledore had approached her and Ron, asking them to use the 'Time Turner' to come back in time, in order to save a Hippogriff named Buckbeak, and used it to help Sirius Black escape. Her story was so...outlandish. But given what Shirou had heard about those two, plus Harry's achievement over the past years, not to mention what himself had experienced during his, admittedly short, previous life time, it wasn't impossible. Besides, from looking into Hermione's eyes, Shirou could tell that she was telling the truth.

After she'd finished, he found himself torn, unable to decide on what he should be more astonished about. On one hand, two thirteen years old students had managed to save two lives that night, doing things that Shirou knew most people wouldn't, or wouldn't dare to. On the other, was the fact that this world's magic had managed to achieve time traveling, one of the few True Magics back in his original world. In the end, Shirou decided that he was going to be astonished with both of them. And that decision left him sitting dumbfounded for several minutes.

"So… basically, you came back in time, saved and rode a Hippogriff to the rescue of...erm… my Godfather?" He asked after finding his voice.

"Yes, and came back to the Hospital Wing just in time too," Hermione nodded, a small smile forming on her lips. "When we got back, you were already asleep again, or so we heard from the Headmaster."

"I still can't believe we did all that, really..." Ron groaned. "I was worried to death when Buckbeak refused to bow at first, and the executioner was coming out too. But hey, riding him was awesome," the last bit he added with a grin.

"Not for me," Hermione closed her eyes shut, recalling the experience. "Your control almost made me fainted on his back."

"It wasn't my fault," Ron retorted. "it wasn't like riding a broom, you know. The bloody thing just keep flapping his wing around..."

Leaving the two of them to bicker at each other, Shirou turned to his own thoughts. Sirius Black had escaped, that was good news. However, he was still a wanted man due to one Peter Pettigrew's escape. Obviously, no matter who he was to Harry Potter, Sirius had no connection to Shirou himself, so he shouldn't be concerned. However, the heroic and noble (Rin's translation: foolish and stubborn. And over time, Shirou started to see that her version became more correct, though he wouldn't admit it out loud) blood within him refused to leave the issue alone. Not to mention that the man was related, even just remotely, to the two in front of him, making Shirou want to do something about his situation. But he knew exactly that at least that part was his guilt talking.

_But what can I do though, _he sighed. Without Black and/or Pettigrew's whereabouts, his hands were tied.

At first, Shirou had wondered why Dumbledore didn't just tell him about it. But he then quickly realized that there was no point to it since he was going to play as an amnesiac boy anyway.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked. Apparently the argument between her and Ron about Hippogriff riding was over. "We...We just thought it would be great to...you know, find out that your Godfather is still alive and well..." She leaned forward and grabbed Shirou's hand. This time he didn't flinch, having already anticipated it.

"Being on the run isn't exactly 'well', is it?" He grinned mischievously before noticing the concerned look she was giving him. If Shirou was to be truthful, he would say that it felt a little odd. Never before he had been given that kind of affection, even from those closest to him back in his world.

Saber cared about him. He knew that. But there was always a distance between them, defined by the difference between a proud legendary King and a stubborn high school kid. They worked together, fought side by side and understood each other to a certain level. But in the end, the distance remained.

Rin wasn't very different. She belonged to an ancient line of traditional magi, and always have a mask around to hide her true self from the world. Once that mask was off though, she became a tease, a cruel one at that. But she was also very caring and had a gentle side too. But perhaps the mindset of a magus had prevented her from being able to completely care for another.

Maybe Sakura's affection was the closest to what Hermione was giving him right now. But Shirou knew that there was something holding her back, making her put up a wall between themselves. Unfortunately, ever since the Grail War broke out, he had had to keep his distance from her to protect her. After that, he followed Rin to England, and they gradually lost contact. Even now, looking back, Shirou still felt a pang of guilt hit him for not being a better friend for her.

The girl in front of him, on the other hand, he sensed no distance, no wall or whatsoever from her. He didn't know her, obviously, and technically speaking, she didn't know him either. While her concern was making he feel warm inside. It was also making him trying his best to push down a grimace or a twisted bitter smile. Because once again, he knew, those genuine and pure feelings were for 'Harry Potter', not Shirou Emiya.

"I'm alright, Hermione," looking at Hermione, he quickly said, faking a reassuring smile. "Just a little surprised. In just twenty minutes I discovered that I had a criminal Godfather who was actually innocent and was on the run. So it's quite a lot to take in."

"I see," she returned his smile, though there was no doubt she had noticed something odd with him. "But isn't it nice? Now you have another relative, who isn't a Dursley, and absolutely isn't as horrible as them."

"I guess it is, eh?" He grinned. "Maybe it just hasn't sunk in yet. It seems like my skull is a bit thick."

Ron snorted, but the two ignored him.

"I understand, Harry," Hermione smiled gently at him. "Just take your time and think about it."

Silence then fell over them for several seconds as they kept eye contact. However, it wasn't until Hermione turned her head away bashfully that Shirou realized he was staring.

_Damn, _he silently swore and averted his gaze. He didn't mean to stare. He was just lost in thoughts for a moment, trying to sort out his own mind. Next to them, Ron was still oblivious to the situation. Luckily, the awkward atmosphere didn't last long as Mrs. Weasley finally knocked on their door to inform them that dinner was ready.

Didn't need to be called twice, all three of them quickly left the room and headed downstairs.

* * *

"Happy Birthday, Harry," as soon as Shirou took his seat at the dining table, the twin chorused. Ron and Hermione had taken the seats next to him while Molly, after firmly turned down his offer to help, was busying transfer dishes after dishes out from the kitchen.

"Thanks guys," Shirou nodded and looked around the table. Percy was sitting at his usual seat next to Fred, casually passing time by reading the book Shirou had left earlier. Sitting next to him was Ginny, who was now nervously stealing glances at Shirou.

"I'm sorry, dear," Molly said as she finished setting the table and sat down herself. "Arthur told me he would be home late tonight, so he can't attend the party. We both wish you a happy birthday though."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," he smiled and gestured at the food on the table. "These look wonderful. And smell good too."

"It's nothing, really," Molly waved her hand, though she looked obviously proud. "And don't say it. It wasn't any trouble at all," she quickly added as she realized what he was going to say.

"Erm… Well…" Shirou stuttered, not knowing what to say. In the end, he simply thanked everybody once again before they started eating. In the next thirty minutes, there weren't many conversations going on and all they could hear was the noises of forks and knives against food plates.

After the main course, Molly returned to the kitchen and brought out a birthday cake, shaped like a huge Snitch much to Shirou's surprise. But it actually made sense, since he had heard that Harry was a great Seeker on his team at Hogwarts. The cake didn't survive long against the children (mostly Ron) though. When everyone was finally stuffed, they moved to the last part of the party: Presents.

"Happy Birthday, mate," Ron was first. He patted Shirou on the back while giving him a brown, carefully wrapped gift. Hesitate a little, Shirou ten tore the cover, revealing a large box of Frog Chocolate inside.

"Thank you, Ron," looking up, he said. Normally, Shirou wasn't one to care about gifts, or sweets in particular. But he didn't deny that it felt a little good receiving something. It'd been awhile since the last time someone gave him a present. And for someone like him, the Holy Shroud from Ciel was much more practical than a box of Chocolate. It wasn't to say he didn't appreciate Ron's gift though.

"This is mine, Harry," looking to his other side, Hermione was giving him another package, smiling brightly.

"Let me guess… A book, right?" Shirou grinned as she nodded, blushing slightly.

"Basic Defense and Disable Charms," he raised an eyebrow at the title as he opened the gift. "Why, Hermione?"

"Well, they're all basic charms in there, some of which were actually taught at Hogwarts before, so I thought you can use it to catch up," Hermione said. "Besides, seeing how trouble just keeps coming to find you, I guess knowing some useful spells won't hurt."

"Can't argue with that," Shirou shrugged, making the twins chuckled. It was the truth, trouble did really like him after all.

They then moved on. Percy gave him another book about Wizarding society, one that he didn't have. The twins, obviously, a box full of tricks and prank items from a joke shop in Diagon Alley. Ginny, whose face was so hot that Shirou actually feel the heat, gave him a pair of Quidditch gloves and a handmade card. Finally, he received from Molly and Arthur a big jar full of homemade cookies.

After putting his presents away, Shirou returned to the dining table and joined the others. Their light conversations continued until Ginny and Ron finally let out a yawn. Taking it as a signal, Molly immediately told the kids to go to bed when she cleaned up, once again refusing Shirou's help.

* * *

That night, lying in his bed, Shirou found it difficult for him to sleep. He was exhausted, not physically, but mentally. Too many things happened that day. He had received gifts and kindness which weren't for him, from people he was deceiving. Of course, Shirou was trying his best to cope with the situation, but doing so put a huge toll on his mind.

After half an hour, he finally gave up. Deciding that sleep wasn't going to come for awhile, he quietly got up, grabbing the book that Hermione gave him and silently sneaked out of the room. He then got downstairs, turning on the light and took his usual seat at the dining table and started reading. There were several useful and interesting spells in there, mostly harmless if used right. However, it still depended on whether or not Shirou could get himself a suitable wand before he could actually use any of them.

"Harry," suddenly, a voice came from behind startled him. Shirou instantly turned around, almost traced Kanshou and Bakuya before realizing that it was Hermione who called him.

_I really need to control that habit better, _he sighed inwardly before asking.

"Hermione, what are you doing up at this time?"

"I heard someone went down the stairs. That squeaking step, you see..." she answer, sitting down next to him. "Are you okay? Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I tried," he shrugged. "The stuff about Sirius Black was still on my mind, I guess."

"Oh… I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to burden you with that..."

"It's okay," Shirou cut her off. "As you said, it's good to have some relative who wasn't a Dursley. Besides, you did that with my interest in heart, so don't blame yourself."

Hermione nodded, before taking a glance at the book he was reading.

"Found anything interesting?" She asked.

"A bunch. Too bad I can't practice them right now."

"Welcome to my world," Hermione sighed dramatically, making both of them chuckled and grinned for a moment.

"Well, you should come back to bed," finally, Shirou said as she failed to contain a yawn. "I'll be up shortly. Reading this will help sleeping easier. I didn't say that it's boring. I'm just using some distraction, you know," he quickly added after seeing the girl's raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure? I can stay awake for a little while, you know."

"I'll be fine," Shirou smiled at her. Looking at him for a moment, Hermione finally got up from her seat.

"Alright then. Don't stay up too late, okay?" She said and started walking up the stair. After a few steps, she turned around and added. "If you need to talk, just come to me, okay? Or Ron if you prefer," Shirou could imagine her rolling her eyes as she said that. "Just don't try to bottle it in too much. We're friends, after all."

"Thank you. I'll keep it in mind," turning back to face her, Shirou said. "Goodnight, Hermione."

"Goodnight, Harry."

With that, she finally disappeared upstairs, leaving Shirou alone with his book. He kept reading, but barely anything registered into his mind anymore.

_She has a point though, _he sighed heavily. Bottling up was no good, he knew as much. Unfortunately, there was no one in this world for him to share his secret at the moment. Technically, there was Dumbledore. But the idea of coming to him for a heart to heart session made Shirou grimace so hard just by thinking about it.

After trying to read for about twenty minutes, Shirou finally accept the fact that his mind just couldn't function properly anymore. Luckily, the physical fatigue had finally caught up. Turning off the light, he then returned to his room and got into his bed. Shirou didn't need to sleep much everyday. However, not getting any sleep wasn't acceptable, especially when he was trying to heal and get his current body into good shape.

With that in mind, Shirou slowly drifted into sleep.

**End of Chapter 6.**


	7. Quidditch World Cup (1)

_**Author's note: **_**I'm back :D. It took me awhile to come up with this chapter, but it's finally here.**

**Regarding the question about pairing, I haven't really made a decision yet. But there will be NO harem in this story (sorry harem fans). The reason for that was just like Server lock had politely pointed out, my writing skill is not at a level where I can write a good harem yet. Many others reviewers had also told me that bad harem would kill this story. So my apologize for some, there won't be harem.**

**That's all for now, please enjoy.**

* * *

"What now, Albus?" Shirou asked impatiently as he paced back and forth in the Headmaster's office. They'd had a long and daunting morning, spent at Gregorovitch's wand shop. The long distance international portkey trip wasn't something Shirou immensely enjoyed, even if he couldn't deny its effectiveness.

Unfortunately, the result they received was less than satisfactory. After hours and hours of waving around all kind of wands, there wasn't even one that accepted his prana.

"It turns out to be the worst scenario after all," from his seat, Dumbledore sighed wearily, only for Shirou to raised an eyebrow at him for stating the most obvious thing in the world.

"It seemed like our world's materials aren't compatible with you," the old man continued, ignoring him. "I can't think of any other explanation as that was the first case ever happened."

"Makes sense," Shirou nodded. "I'm the first world traveler here after all, or the first known one," he then wondered if Zelretch had ever set foot in this world, and what this world's version of the old blood sucker was like.

"You sounded like there are others beside you who are capable of such feat," Dumbledore, as expected, didn't miss the implication. He looked up from his crossed fingers and was now staring at Shirou, waiting for him to reveal more information about his home world.

"Only one that I know of," Shirou, however, answered dismissively. "But it's not important, and most certainly isn't what we need to worry about right now."

"You're right," the Headmaster's eyes dropped. "So what's your opinion on this? You know your...magecraft better than I do."

"I think you might have been right with your guess. But there was also a chance of it having something to do with the element and origin of my magecraft..." Shirou paused, hesitated a little.

"Oh? Please elaborate?" Dumbledore urged at his sudden silence.

Taking a very brief moment to consider his next move, Shirou then decided that it was worth it to disclose some more of his knowledge. It was the harmless, theoretical part. And it might help him forward with their current problem.

"According to the teaching of magecraft back in my world, there are elements that make up the world. They are Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Void. Every magus can control at least one of those five. While 'Origin' is the starting point that defines one's existence and directs one's actions throughout life. Apparently, both my element and origin is 'Sword'."

"But you just said there are only five elements?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"I'm an odd case," Shirou shrugged. "Those are five great elements, but there are exceptions. Anyway, since that was the case, I wasn't able to use any spell belong to one of those elements. In return, I have a very strong attachment to swords and blades in general. Maybe that's why the wands didn't accept me? Since they aren't blades, I couldn't use them properly?"

"If that's really the case, then there's still hope," Dumbledore perked up, a bit of the twinkling light returned to his eyes. "I'll have to research further into this to make sure, and make some arrangements. But there's still hope indeed."

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked and stopped moving, feeling his anticipation building up a little. It would be good to get that problem out of the way as soon as possible.

"I'm talking about a wand-like blade that you can probably use to cast spells, Shirou," the old man stood up and replied. "It's a bit odd, but we will have to make do if we want to have 'Harry Potter' back to Hogwarts the upcoming year. Now let us go back to the Burrow. I'll look into this and get back to you as soon as possible."

"Is there anything I can do to help? It's my problem after all"

"It's both ours. And yes, I believe there will be. But only if that method works," Dumbledore nodded as he walked to the fire place, grabbing a handful of Floo powder and threw it into the fire, which instantly turned green. "It wouldn't take long, I promise. Until next time, Shirou."

"See you, Headmaster," with a nod, Shirou realized that he was being dismissed. He stepped into the fire and called 'The Burrow'. There were still things he wanted to ask. But that wasn't the best time, and it didn't felt like Dumbledore was willing to reveal anymore, so he decided to retreat for the time being. At least, his information didn't come to waste.

Another moment of discomfort later, Shirou stumbled out of the Weasleys' fireplace, and was welcomed by a grinning Ron, saying he was back right in time for a Quidditch game. Shirou was about to decline, but he held himself back. Up until now, he had rebuffed many game invitations from the red head already. It wouldn't do to raise any suspicion, since apparently, Harry Potter himself was a Quidditch maniac. Besides, he could use this chance to try to use a broom. He was now having the best broom in his possession, and it wouldn't feel right not to learn how to make use of it.

Roughly an hour later, a slightly exhausted Shirou dragged himself back into the house for a quick shower before dinner, followed by Ron, Fred and George (Ginny also wanted to play but was ruthlessly turned down by the boys. The poor girl then stomped back inside, fuming all the way). All in all, he had to admit that broom riding was his most favorite magical traveling method so far. The game itself wasn't too intriguing, but flying on a broom certainly brought him a strange sense of freedom. Having a top-notch broom probably also helped.

* * *

On the day of the Quidditch Worldcup, Shirou had to skip his morning practice since they were leaving early for the timed Portkey to take them to the camping site. After saying goodbye to Molly, the boys and two girls started making their way toward one of the hills in front of them. The teens, with the exception of Shirou, were yawning continuously as they weren't used to getting up early. It also didn't help that Ron, due to his excitement, wasn't able to sleep early the previous night.

Upon reaching the site and registered with a wizard on duty there, the Weasleys group said goodbye to their companion, the Diggories, who, in the red head kids' opinion, was a pompous bunch. It was true that Amos Diggory was a bit overboard describing his son's last year victory against Harry Potter. But to Shirou, Cedric Diggory was a nice and humble boy, a true Hufflepuff. Besides, it wasn't like they were talking about _him, _so he didn't particularly care.

After helping a clueless Arthur with using muggle money to pay the site owner and witnessed the man being obliviated, Shirou couldn't help but raise his question.

"Mister Weasley," he asked, eyeing the poor muggle disapprovingly. "Is that really okay? I mean, according to that Ministry worker, that guy had had his memory modified dozens of time already, and that was only within a few days. Wouldn't it leave any negative effect?"

"Well..." Arthur stuttered, suddenly looking nervous. "Now that you mention it, memory charm can indeed be messy if done wrong. But don't worry, those guys are professional. They are in charge of modify the memories of muggles who accidentally witness magic, you know. That's their everyday job," he quickly added after seeing the look Shirou was giving him.

"That doesn't make it right!" Shirou retorted, feeling a little anger sip into his voice. "He didn't _accidentally _witness magic. We..." He motioned to the clearing in front of them, which was filled with all kind of colorful tents and weirdly dressed wizards and witches, who weren't even bother to hide their magic. "...forced him to see it, then process to wipe his memory, repeatedly, knowing there might be unwanted damage. Why?"

"That's..." The man opened his mouth to answer, but words seemed to leave him. He and the rest of the group just gaped at Shirou in astonishment.

_Really? _He sighed inwardly. _That was one of the most obvious things and it caught them by surprise? How clueless can they be?_

"Harry...Harry is right, Mister Weasley..." Hesitantly, Hermione stepped up to stand beside him. She was looking down at her feet, and two pink spots could be seen on her cheeks. "It isn't right for that man to have to suffer like that. Even though I'm… I'm a muggleborn, that thought hasn't even occurred to me, and probably never would if Harry hadn't mentioned it… I'm ashamed..."

"No, Hermione," Arthur said quickly. "And I'm very sorry Harry. I should have thought of that myself, seeing how I'm working in a department that exists solely for the purpose of protecting muggles. If anyone has to be ashamed, it's me. Please wait here, I'd go have a quick word with the Obliviator in charge and get them have someone else to replace that man..."

Shaking his head sadly, the man then turned away and was soon disappeared from view.

"I was too harsh, wasn't I?" Shirou asked worriedly, looking around at the kids. The saddened look on Arthur's face had somewhat woken him from his anger, and he was now feeling a bit guilty. The Wizarding world was clueless and lacked common sense in general, so it wasn't really Arthur's fault. He was a good man. And here Shirou was, blaming him for something he didn't really do.

On the other hand, another part of him argued that it was the right thing to do. Someone needed to point out those kinds of things. They might be oblivious to it, but that was clearly muggle abuse. If looking from a certain angle, it was even worse that all of these wizards and witches let it happen, or even do it themselves, while treating it as something perfectly normal.

All in all, Shirou firmly believed that he did the right thing. He only wished that he had chosen his words more carefully.

Lost in thoughts, Shirou almost didn't notice a pair of hands placed on his shoulders. Apparently, Fred and George had approached him, and they both were wearing a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about it," Fred said.

"You didn't do anything wrong," George nodded sagely. "It's a bit scary how we didn't even notice things like that going on around."

"They're right, mate," Ron joined in. He was still eyeing Shirou with a little awe.

"But your dad..." Shirou stammered. "I don't like making him upset. He's a good man, and your family has been treating me so well..."

"He was upset, but not at your words," Fred shrugged. "More like he was mad at himself."

"I think if anything, Mister Weasley is thankful that you told him, Harry," Hermione smiled. "And so am I."

"But I didn't do anything for you?" Shirou raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"You stood up for muggles, and that includes muggleborns like me," she said matter-of-factly. "I guess staying in the Wizarding world for too long has made me lose some common senses..."

"But..."

"No but, Harry," Hermione cut him off. "It's true that there are many people in this world who are protective of muggles and muggleborns. But like Mister Weasley, they aren't aware of things similar like what you just told us, being too absorbed in the Statue of Secrecy that they sometimes forget about little things like that, you know..."

However, before Shirou was able to voice his retort, Arthur had come back, this time with a smile on his face. Slowly shaking his head in resignation, Shirou let the matter slide. It was him against five others. And most of all, he had had enough experience arguing with intelligent and logical people. None of those times ended well for him and his mental health.

"Alright, they're bringing in a squib to replace the muggle," Arthur said cheerfully, and was answered by six big smiles. "Let's go, we still have to set up our camp and prepare everything for dinner before we go and watch the game."

"I can't wait," Ron said, reverting back to his Quidditch mindset. "Victor Krum is gonna be there, you know. I wonder if I can ask him for a paragraph..."

"Krum is a good player," Fred nodded. "But he's only one. Ireland has seven."

"And what does that have anything to do with what I just said?" Ron replied. "Regardless of the result, Krum is going to catch the Snitch."

The discussion then went on and on until the group finally reached their reserved spot and started putting up their own camps, one for the boys and one for the girls. Much to Shirou and Hermione's amusement (and subtle laughter), Arthur absolutely refused to use magic, insisting on doing everything 'the muggles way'. In the end, it had cost them much longer than expected for the two camps to be usable. But no one complained. It was entertaining in its own way. And after looking at the interior, Shirou was once again amazed by what magic can be applied into those people's everyday life. As the game drew closer, the earlier unpleasant conversation started to fade away from everyone's minds.

* * *

"Why do we have to go this far to get water?" Ron groaned, complaining for the fourth time ever since the moment he, Shirou and Hermione were tasked with water fetching mission. The three were now walking across the site, trying to reach their destination at the other end. Shirou didn't say anything, but he silently agreed with Ron. It wasn't because he was lazy. But no matter where he went, he was stared at by everyone, some even tried to talk to him or to shake his hand. The attention was starting to get on his nerve, and the long way certainly didn't help.

To be fair, it wasn't all daunting. Here and there, the teens (and Shirou) were able to get some good laughter at clueless wizards and witches trying too had to appear 'muggle-like' that it became ridiculous. And the festive atmosphere that was covering the entire place also helped lifting everyone's mood. Even some Ministry workers could be seen enjoying themselves now, since the only muggle in the area had been replaced by a squib ("See, you did the right thing," said Hermione). All in all, aside from having to keep up his calm and polite appearance constantly, Shirou was also enjoying himself.

"Potter, is that you?" Suddenly, a voice came from behind making all three turn around. Upon seeing the visitors, Shirou merely raised an eyebrow while Hermione's eyes going wide in surprise. Ron, on the other hand, was narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"Davis," Shirou greeted politely before turning to the second girl. "Greengrass."

"Potter," Daphne nodded her head ever slightly while Tracey was standing with a wide smile.

"What are you doing here?" Ron jumped in and asked in an annoyed tone.

"We're going to fetch water. What else?" Tracey replied, a bit taken aback, while Daphne stood still, her expression unchanging.

"Then move along," the red head hissed. "You snakes have no business with Harry."

"How rude!" Tracey exclaimed. "We met each other at Daphne's birthday party. Why is it wrong to say hello to a friend when we meet him?"

"Right," Ron snorted mockingly. "Like there's any friendship between snakes and lions..."

"Ron," Hermione, finally woke up from her surprised, intervened. "You're being rude. They're from Slytherin doesn't mean they're all like Malfoy."

"Thank you, Granger," to Shirou's surprise, it was Daphne who spoke. "If anything, you're more similar to that blond ponce that us, Weasley."

_Hey, that actually makes sense, _Shirou mused, but chose not to said it out loud.

"What?" Ron roared. His face flushed with anger. "There's no way I'm… to that..."

"Was I wrong?" Daphne continued, there was an edge of challenging in her icy cold voice, daring anyone to go against it. "You're also prejudiced, judging us as a whole based on some...unfavorable individuals. You don't even know us. We've never talked to each other. Isn't that what Malfoy was doing to the muggleborns?"

Ron gaped at her words. His mouth keep opening and closing like that of a fish but there was no word came out. Obviously, the red head was burning with anger, but couldn't fault the logic in Daphne's words.

_The lady sure has a sharp tongue, _Shirou mentally smirked. Ron had earned, and deserved every bit of that tongue lashing. He was a good boy at heart, but his judgment was clouded. Hopefully he could learn something out of this conversation to help himself.

"Waayyyy to ruin my mood," Tracey sighed heavily. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Potter. And you too, Granger," she looked at the bushy haired girl, who gave her a little nod in return. "I think we should...'move along' now," she spared Ron a sharp glare. "So see you guys later, I guess."

"Potter," as they were walking away, Daphne turned around and said. "I don't know what you and my father talked about at the party, but he seems to be impressed with you. I think he would want to meet you again. So if possible, pay him a visit at our tent. We're right over there," she pointed toward a group of tents near the wood. "The green one, you can't miss it. See you later."

After saying goodbye to the two Slytherin girls and gave her his word to come and have a talk with Adam, Shirou and his friends continued with their mission. Hermione was still a bit shocked, while Ron was fuming with anger.

"So… What is this about a birthday party and how comes I've never heard of it?" Finally, it was Hermione who broke the silence.

"The Greengrasses invited me to their eldest daughter's birthday party over the summer, not long after I came to the Burrow," Shirou shrugged. "I'm sorry I haven't told you about it. It just kind of...slipped from my mind, you know..."

It was the truth, or at least part of it was. Shirou didn't 'forget' to tell her about it. It was just that the thought of telling her itself had never occurred to him in the first place. Right now, looking at the slightly hurtful expression on her face, he realized that the real Harry would have told her. He doubted that they would hide anything from each other, given how close they were.

_But I'm not him, _he steeled himself. _I'm not obligated to tell her, or anyone, about what I do in my free time._

Luckily, Hermione was an understanding person. After awhile, she smiled.

"It's okay. I just expected… Never mind, right now you're having it harder than any of us. I shouldn't call you out on it..."

"I'm sorry," Shirou repeated. This time, he tried to voice it as genuinely as he could. Apparently, Hermione got it, as her smile grew a little brighter.

"It's alright. For now, let's just..."

"IT CAN'T BE!"

Whatever Hermione was going to say was drowned in Ron's angry shout. Finally, the red head had managed to broke out of his trance. Almost every head in the area turned to look at them, making Hermione blushed a little and Shirou hid his face in his hand. But Ron didn't seem to care as he continued to rant.

"There's no way that I'm like that bastard. I'm a Gryffindor," he said, swinging his arms wildly. "I'd never treat muggleborns the way he did. I'm not like him. Absolutely not, right?"

Shirou and Hermione shared a glance. And in that moment, he knew exactly that she agreed with him about Daphne's words. Luckily, they didn't have to say it as Ron kept going on and on and didn't care whether or not he got an answer from his friends.

After about five minutes, Ron finally calmed down a bit. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, he turned to Shirou.

"You aren't going to their tent, right?"

"I don't know, Ron," Shirou sighed. "I'll come if we have time. We still have to prepare dinner when we come back. I doubt that your dad could lit the campfire using matches."

Hermione chuckled, but quickly hid her smile behind her hand.

"So you will go if you can?" Ron, on the other hand, didn't find it funny.

"Yes, I will," Shirou replied firmly, looking straight into the red head's eyes. "Mister Greengrass is a decent man. I can tell that much. If they had wished me harm, they would have done so at the party. Don't be too suspicious of them just because their daughters are in Slytherin, Ron. You can't judge someone based on their House alone."

"But..."

"No but, Ron. To be honest, I'm not friend with either Davis or Greengrass, nor I intend to be one in the near future. But I think Greengrass got a point there, you know."

"I'm _not_ like Malfoy!" Ron retorted angrily.

"I'm not saying that," Shirou replied, shaking his head. "But it's true that you're a little prejudiced. Please, Ron, not all Slytherins are bad. Just like not all Gryffindors are good. Remember Pettigrew?"

"It's true, Ron," Hermione said gently, touching the red head's arm. "You don't have to befriend any Slytherin if you don't want to. But please don't be too hard on them. I have Runes and Arithmancy with both of those girls, and so far they mostly kept to themselves and haven't done anything to warrant that hatred. And if you can recall, they've never been together with Malfoy or do anything bad to us either."

"That's..." Once again, Ron was lost for words. Finally, he mumbled.

"I can't believe you guys are taking their side..."

"Ron..." Hermione started. But Ron quickly help up his hand to stop her. He then took a deep breath and said.

"But I want to prove that I'm not Malfoy. I...I'll try. But give me sometimes. And can we please don't talk about them again for awhile?"

To his words, Hermione's mouth actually dropped open, while Shirou smiled slightly. The girl then said, stuttering.

"That...It's okay. I'm glad, Ron."

"You're welcome," Ron smiled back. The red shade of anger on his face was now replaced by embarrassment. "I just hate to be compared to Malfoy, you know. I can't stand and don't want to have anything to do with that ponce."

"I'm glad too, Ron," Shirou said, nodding his head. "So let's get the water and come back before they send a search party after us."

"So you're still going to go… Never mind," couldn't help himself, Ron asked, but abruptly ended the question after seeing Shirou's raised eyebrow. "Just… be careful."

"I will, thank you," Shirou gave him a reassuring smile.

* * *

"Mister Potter, what a surprise," Adam Greengrass's eyes went wide for a second before a professional smile slipped onto his face. When Shirou arrived, he was busy with their own campfire, but the man quickly stood up and shook his hand.

"Mister Potter, this is my wife, Aurora Greengrass. Unfortunately, the girls were away at a friend's tent," he quickly introduced his wife, an attractive woman with blond hair. Shirou had seen her at the party, but they were never properly introduced. "Dear, this is Harry Potter, as you've already known. So Mister Potter, what brings you here?"

After exchanging greeting with Madam Greengrass, Shirou turned back to Adam.

"What do you mean? Didn't you ask your daughter to ask me to come?"

"No, I certainly did not," Adam squinted his eyes, but he quickly smirked. "That girl, I bet that she knew I'm quite taken in with you even though I've never told her about that."

"You talk about Mister Potter almost everyday, dear," behind him, Aurora smirked. "Sometimes I wonder if I should be jealous..."

"You have nothing to fear, my dear wife," Adam burst into laughter at his wife's statement as Shirou stared at her in astonishment. "It's just that Mister Potter is a very interesting guest that I've got the honor to know. Well, how about we take a walk?" He motioned away from his tent. Shirou agreed. The two of them then started walking away after Adam told Aurora that he would be back soon and gave her a gentle kiss.

"Your wife is very beautiful. Now I know where your daughters get their beauty from," Shirou said as they walked.

"Thank you. I know I'm blessed," Adam replied with a proud smile. "They are my most precious treasure in this world."

"I can see that," Shirou nodded. "I'm surprised that you talk about me to your daughters. You wife, I can understand, but..."

"Why so, Mister Potter? You're an interesting and unique wizard, not to mention famous. What's wrong with people talking about you?"

"Because I was under the impression that the topic we discussed last time wasn't something to share with children," he shook his head.

"Are you saying you aren't a child?" Adam tilted his head and asked bluntly. "I didn't mean to be rude, but you're actually the same age as my daughter."

"Physical age, yes. But I'm quite certain that Miss Greengrass hasn't been through half of what I have. No offense. But those kinds of experience could change a man more than you can imagine."

"And none taken," the older man shook his head. "I'm just wondering… Did you really go through what you claim?"

"Pardon?" Shirou asked. His voice grew colder. But Adam either didn't notice or just ignored it as he continued.

"What I mean is, those events, the Philosopher's Stone, the Basilisk, then last year's Sirius Black fiasco, were experienced by Harry Potter, son of Lily and James Potter," he said calmly. "Whom I'm quite certain that you're not. Amnesia is a convenient cover, taking advantage of the boy's bad reaction toward Dementors, I must say."

They had both stopped walking as they reached a small clearing in the nearby forest, far from public view. Shirou had his back turned to Adam. He wasn't afraid, nor scared. He had somehow knew that his cover had been blown at Daphne's birthday party, or even before that, the day he was seen in Diagon Alley.

"What do you want?" He asked plainly, turning back to face the man, who had already got his wand out and was now putting up the same privacy charms that Dumbledore used. "If you want to know what happened with Potter or who I really am, then I'll have to disappoint you."

"I don't care about either of those," Adam smirked slyly. "I wouldn't need to test you if that was the case, Mister _Potter, _even if that probably isn't your name. You don't need to tell us who you are, or what have you done with the real Potter. As long as we have the same goal, we can be allies."

"And that goal is?"

However, instead of getting an answer, Shirou felt a powerful attack on his mind. Instantly, his Magic Circuits flared up, forcefully pushing out the invader. At the same time, a short sword materialized in the air and launched itself toward Adam, who was staggering from the sudden rebuff, grazing the man's cheek before hitting the tree behind and vanished.

"That was rude, don't you think, Mister Greengrass?" Shirou asked, his voice icy cold. "Was it so hard to ask for permission before performing a test? I assure you that the swords will find their target if that happens once again."

"My apologize," in front of him, Adam looked like he wasn't threatened at all. The man was now grinning widely as he regained his balance. Tracing his wand carefully at the wound on his cheek and murmured a spell, the cut gradually sealed up. Pulling out a handkerchief to wipe off the blood. The man then turned back to Shirou.

"You also understand that any attacker probably wouldn't ask for permission before raiding your mind, right?" He asked. "I suspected that as an imposter, you should have some sort of training in Occlumency, but that was beyond what I expected. A really strong defense you got there."

"Thank you, I guess," Shirou snorted dryly. He knew Adam Greengrass didn't mean harm. But until he got an idea of what the man's goal was, he wasn't going to let his guard down too much. "But I also feel the need to remind you that any _real _attacker wouldn't have lived to tell what they'd seen in my mind. And that's only when they managed to breach my defense in the first place."

"Can't fault a man for being too careful, can you?" Adam murmured.

"But you can for being rude," Shirou replied evenly, making the man chuckle and apologized once again. "So, what are you aiming for?"

"To stop the raise to power of 'Who-He-Must-Not-Be-Named'," he answered casually, as if they were just discussing that day's weather.

"Voldemort?" Shirou asked, raising an eyebrow. He'd heard from Dumbledore that the self-styled Dark Lord hadn't really died yet. However…

"You're saying he's returning? Didn't he died over a decade ago?"

"That's what everyone believes," Adam shook his head slowly and started pacing. His entire expression had changed from playful to solemn, business-like. "Or almost everyone. But yes, I… we _know _that he's rising once again. We have proof."

"Now hold on a second," Shirou raised a hand. "It's your question, now I'm giving It back to you. Why are you telling me all this? You surely know that if I was one of Voldemort's followers, I could silence you right here, right?"

"That's unlikely, Mister Potter," Adam laughed, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. "You interfered with the fight at the Diagon Alley, and if you were one of his supporters, you would have helped taking down only the muggleborns instead. And don't think we're blind or deaf. We know Dumbledore is aware that you're an imposter. And if I'm not too bold, I might say that the Headmaster also has a hand in your play. You don't need to confirm it though. But it's enough to say that you are on the side of the Light."

Pausing a little to take a breath, he then continued.

"But another important reason for us to approach you is that even though you're close to Dumbledore, you don't share his view of the world. The old man, as powerful as he is, always tend to look for the best in people, and aim for their redemption instead of killing them, even if they don't deserve mercy. That was why we had so much difficulty in the last war. You, on the other hand, speak of killing in a way that persuaded me that you can actually do it when the need arise."

"I'm not enjoying it," Shirou retorted sharply.

"I'm not saying you are," Adam answered, shrugging. "But you know the need of the act, and you can do it. That's important."

Shirou took a moment to consider what the man had just said. During his past life, he rarely killed, unless there was no other way out. And he'd always felt awful after every time he did the act. However, Shirou had eventually come to learn that he couldn't save everyone, and that not everyone was deserve to be saved. It was sad, but unavoidable.

Especially now, when he was about to take on Harry Potter's destiny, and to fulfill his own dream. He was about to enter a war against Voldemort. Shirou had been telling himself to prepare for a lot of lives loss in the future, many of them by his hands. He was disheartened, but after reading texts and documents about the last Britain Wizarding War, he had had to agree that some of those people called Death Eaters couldn't be redeemed. Shirou couldn't help but feeling sick reading about some of the unspeakable crimes those monsters committed against muggles and muggleborns. Yes, monsters, they couldn't be called human anymore after those acts.

To the next point, he was now being offered to join some sort of group fighting against Voldemort. He knew that Dumbledore also used to have one in the past. But from the look of it, the Headmaster's order didn't know about the existence of Adam's group. The proof of that was the Greengrass had managed to keep its neutral status after all those years.

Yes, that was the question Shirou wanted to ask.

"You're telling me that you and you men are fighting against Voldemort," he said, and Adam nodded. "But you and your family remained neutral in the last war, right? If you're against him, why not join Dumbledore?"

"For many reasons," the man answered. "Firstly, as I've just said, we don't agree with Dumbledore's way of fighting, to spare as much Death Eaters as he could despite their crimes. Secondly, as you've seen, I have a family to protect. Call me a coward if you want, but what would happen to them if I were to announce my allegiance with the side of the Light? I'm not an accomplished fighter, none of us is, we can't protect our families if something were to happen. And that was the final reason, we lack fighting strength to fight a direct battle. Almost every good fighters either joined the Death Eaters or Dumbledore. Many of the latter were killed off due to that old fool's policies," he spat out angrily. For the first time, Shirou was able to witness a small part of Adam's true emotion.

"So exactly what did you guys do during the last war?" Shirou asked. He was taking his time to think about what he'd just heard about Dumbledore's war policies. Was the old man that blind? Even someone as idealistic as Shirou himself had to bend to the cruel truth of the world…

"We fight mostly in the politics field. Through numerous proxies, we were able to pass many bills in the Light's favor. It was us who replaced the last incompetent Minister of Magic with Millicent Bagnold and brought Barty Crouch to a convenient position to strike against the Dark Lord. It was us who, through Crouch, proposed the bill to heavily punish any captured Death Eater, reduced their number greatly, and I'm not boasting. We may have killed off or disabled more of them than Dumbledore's order ever did. We also anonymously tipped off the Aurors of many Death Eater attacks due to an internal spy's reports. Of course, we had our ways to prevent any evidence from being traced back to us, and we have been successful so far. We aren't Slytherins for nothing, you know."

"So why do you want me?" Shirou asked again. "Your way of doing things seems to be effective. Why not keep doing that?"

"Of course we will. But it's not going to be enough anymore, not that it was enough the last time. The Ministry is now even more corrupted than before, and I don't trust Dumbledore's order. I want to take at least a part of the direct battlefield into our hand now that I've got to know an incredible fighter like you. It would be a waste to have your strength limited by that old fool's policies."

"That can't be all, can it?" Shirou said after a moment of silence. It wasn't a question, but a confirmation. Someone like Adam couldn't only have those goals in mind.

"I like you more and more, Mister Potter," Adam grinned widely. "Yes, that's not all, but anymore then I can't tell you right now. We won't dig into your past or identity, so can you please spare us of that piece of information? For now, we have a common interest. And that was enough for us to work with you. Your answer?"

"Not so quick, Mister Greengrass," Shirou shook his head. "What you've told me was very intriguing. And from the look of it, we do have a common goal. But is there any guarantee that what you said was the truth? I'm thankful that you don't question my identity though."

"I see..." Adam frowned, looking thoughtful. "I guess that makes sense. We know nothing about you and you know next to nothing about us. So it would be hard to ask you that now. So how about this? You don't need to answer now. But to express our good will, we will give you some information. And in exchange, you will work part time for us, no string attached. You will not be allowed to know any important secrets, of course. But what we give you should be enough to convince you of what I've just said. After that, either join us full time or walk away, it's your choice."

"Sounds reasonable," Shirou nodded. "I can accept that. Another question, can I meet any more of your members during this time?"

"You have to understand that it's not safe, Mister Potter. We need you, but not necessarily trust you completely," Adam chuckled, shaking his head. "But we will consider it if there's a need."

"I understand."

"Also, even if it's just part time, there are some rules that you need to follow," he continued. "First, please stop saying the Dark Lord's name."

"Why is that?" Shirou frowned. "There's no need to fear a name."

"It's not because of fear," Adam shook his head. "You might not know about it. But during the last war, the Dark Lord had made his name a taboo, a sort of spell that alerts his Death Eaters whenever his name was spoken out loud, and they would be able to bypass any protection spell and ward short for Hogwarts' protection or the Fidelius Charm. We fear that he might do the same this time around. Instead, we refer to him by a common name, Jones, now that you work for us, please use that name whenever you need to speak of him to any of us."

Shirou nodded, seeing the logic behind their action. He silently noted to ask Arthur about the Fidelius Charm later on though, as he had absolutely no idea what it was.

"So what's the second rule?" He asked.

"Please don't tell Dumbledore about any of this," Adam answered. "I don't know what you think of him. But if you can't accept this term, please walk away now."

"And you will let me go, just like that? After all this talk?" Shirou's eyebrows shot up as he gave the man a disbelieving look.

"We have our ways to keep secrets, Mister Potter," Adam smirked. "And I think we both agree that I can't tell you about them, not now."

"Good point," Shirou nodded, but his expression quickly changed to a threatening one as he glared at the man in front of him. "I accept the terms. But if I ever figure out that the 'common goal' is a lie…"

He left the sentence hanging, but Adam had got the message.

"I expected no less, Mister Potter," he replied. The professional smile once again appeared as he waved his wand to take down the privacy wards. "So let us return for now. I'm sure that my wife has started missing me already."

"I have no doubt about that," Shirou snorted as the two started making their way back to the Greengrasses' tent. The topics of their conversation returned to those of a much lighter and casual nature.

In his mind, Shirou was still debating with himself if he had done the right thing. But apparently, there was no way to figure it out exactly at the moment. For now, he would just have to go with the flow and see where it took him, hoping that everything would turn out alright.

**End of Chapter 7.**

_**Author's note 2: **_**Next chapter coming shortly, maybe in a day or two, featuring the Quidditch match and the raid after. Looking forward to it xD.**


	8. Quidditch World Cup (2)

_**Author's note: **_**Hurray quick update, just as I promised.**

** WriteShop: I'm going to name the Order, but I still haven't found a good name yet.**

** Server lock: Thank you for the recommendation :D.**

** GGFBank: I agree. Not just in canon, Ron was bashed too heavily even in fanfiction. Don't expect him to become all goody goody too soon though. No one can change that much over a night.**

**That's all, please enjoy.**

* * *

During his life, Shirou had never experienced the feeling of being among such a big crowd like he was doing right at the moment. Thousands and thousands of people from all over the world had gathered here for one big event. They were all talking, laughing, cheering or even stomping loudly enough to shake the entire stadium and overwhelm him, together with the rest of the Weasley kids for a moment as they entered their booth. Luckily, the tickets Arthur got was reserved for some of the first class seats in the same booth as the Minister of Magic and some other important guests, thus lessened the pressure. Shirou shuddered slightly as he imagined how it would be to sit amongst all those people and had them recognizing him as 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'.

Their group quickly headed for their seats. Shirou was sandwiched between Ron and Hermione as usual, with Ginny on Hermione's other side, while the twins sat down next to Ron. Arthur and Percy was in the row in front of them, together with Bill and Charlie Weasley, two eldest sons who was working oversea. The two of them and Percy had arrived by apparating soon after Shirou's return from his visit to the Greengrasses' tent.

Overall, both of them were alright in his book. Charlie was a bit wild, with a sturdy build accompanied by some burn scars, which was understandable as the guy was working as a dragon keeper. He was polite and playful at the same time, and generally welcomed Shirou to the family.

Bill, on the other hand, was like a good mixture of the twins and Percy. Prefect, Head Boy, but unlike a certain brother of his, the eldest Weasley boy was humorous, easy going and easy to get close. In fact, Shirou was sure that one of the most recent pranks against Percy was the result of Bill's collaboration with the twins. And it was a big success too, if the way poor Percy refused to join everyone for meals for several days due to the fact that he couldn't sit down properly was anything to go by.

Needless to say, Molly didn't find it funny at all. The same could be said to her attitude toward Bill's fashion sense, which included a ponytail and fang-shaped earrings. Too bad for the Weasley matriarch, it seemed like she was alone in that regard, and was fighting in a losing battle to change her son's dressing way.

The voice of the commentator – Ludo Bagman – signaling the arrival of Irish and Bulgarian team had yanked Shirou out of his thoughts about the Weasleys. Shifting his attention to the stadium center, he could see all the players started to make their appearance on their brooms. The Irish, all in green uniform, had brought some tiny green creatures, which Shirou found out were Leprechauns after asking Hermione, as their mascots. In just a few minutes, their booth was filled with Leprechaun gold. Ron had wasted no time to gather as much as he could and stuff them into his pockets, only to be heartbroken after Arthur told him that the golds would disappear after a few hours. Shirou himself also picked up a few coins, but only to satisfy his curiosity since he didn't believe that they were giving out real gold. Needless to say, a quick analysis was enough to tell him what he needed.

The Bulgarians' presentation was no less impressive. On their brooms, seven scarlet shadows dashed out and made their way around the stadium. The cheering got incredibly loud when their Seeker – the infamous Viktor Krum – arrived. Looking on his side, Shirou noticed that Ron and the twins was looking at the Quidditch superstar with transparent admiration and worship. On the row in front of them, a heated discussion had been started once again between the older Weasleys about the final result of the match. The twins had boldly given their two knuts that the Ireland team would win but Krum would get the Snitch.

Shirou smiled softly at the red heads, admiring how they were truly a tight knitted family. However, his attention was shifted one hundred and eighty degree when the Bulgarian mascots entered the stadium and started to dance. They were some kind of humanoid creatures that had bird features. For a second, a thought appeared inside Shirou's head, telling him how attractive they were and he got to do something truly outrageous in order to impress them. Luckily, he realized that it was a compulsion and got rid of it with his magecraft. It wasn't very easily though, as it was so powerful even at that great distance. After a few seconds, Shirou finally settled down and take a deep, calming breath as he wiped off the sweats that had started to form on his face from the effort. He continued to observe the strange creatures, but dared not to let his mental defense down even just a little.

It was just then he realized that Hermione and Ginny had already left their seats, and was now busy holding back Ron and the twins from jumping off the booth. The older Weasleys seemed to know better though, as they'd already averted their gazes and covered their ears with both hands. It also didn't take a genius to see that the three teenage boys were too much for two girls to handle, and the adults literally got their hand tied at that moment. With a quick check to make sure his mind was still clear and strong, Shirou got up and helped putting the drooling boys into their seat and restrained them. That particular action had earned him surprised and quizzical looks from both Hermione and Ginny.

"You...You're not affected?" It was Ginny who managed to voice the question.

"For a second, I was," Shirou nodded. "Luckily I managed to resist the compulsion somehow. I have no desire to become a splattered mess at the bottom of this booth anytime soon, unlike many gentlemen around here. What are they by the way?"

"Veela," Hermione answered, still pushing Ron down with both hands. The red head was struggling to escape. He eyes glued to the dancing figures. "Magical being. They have alluring power to attract men. It takes a really strong will to resist their allure," she finished, looking at him with a happy smile.

_Well, in my case it's more like the advantage of practicing magecraft, _he thought, wondering well he would fare against those Veela without his magic resistance. It was a little tempting to drop the defense and try, but sure as hell he wasn't going to test his luck. Especially when the safety of Fred's bodily shape was under his hands.

"It's not safe to bring them to a public gathering as grand as this, isn't it?" In the end, he asked, casting a glance at Ron and the twins. At the same time, the Veela's dance was finished. The hypnotized boys immediately snapped out of their trance and stopped struggling. After being filled in on what they'd just done, Ron started blushing furiously, his eyes stuck to his feet. Fred and George, true to their nature, had made a good laugh out of their silly moment.

"Should have given us a warning beforehand," Bill murmured. The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"That could be dangerous," Charlie shook his head. "Good thing no one jumped."

"Well, no harm done," Arthur smiled good-naturedly. "Take your seats, the game's about to start."

After the incident, the rest of the match passed peacefully, except for a small skirmish between the Leprechaun and the Veela, which was resolved rather quickly. Of course, it was exciting. The crowd's excitement and cheering (with quite a few booing) made it become addictive in a strange sort of way. Even someone without any experience like Shirou could notice how skilled the players were. He couldn't help but admiring their smooth movements and maneuver on the broom sticks, as well as the way the Irish Chasers were playing. It was obvious that they were dominating their Bulgarian counterpart. Not long into the game, Shirou found himself joined with other and cheered for both teams. He wasn't a sport or competitive person and never would be. But it was so easy to go along with the crowd and lose himself into the atmosphere that he was experiencing for the first time.

Surprisingly, at least for Shirou, the end result turned out just like how the twins predicted. They were now both wearing smug grins on their faces. Soon after, the two pranksters put their heads together and started whispering to each other, no doubt planning something obscure.

Everyone then process to leave the stadium. It was too chaotic, so their group had had to hold onto each other's hand to keep themselves from being separated. During that time, Shirou caught a glimpse of Draco Malfoy and two other people, who he guessed was the blond's parents. But when Draco met his eyes, he only glared at him before turning away. Obviously, the time and place wasn't right for some refreshing belittlement and insult to be thrown around.

Suddenly, Shirou was bumped into hard by a hooded stranger. He almost fell down if it wasn't for Hermione's grip on his hand. After regaining his balance, he quickly checked his surrounding, but the stranger was gone. Of course, he didn't miss the piece of parchment that was slipped into his pocket during the collision.

After the group returned to their tent, chatting merrily all the way, Arthur started to tell the children to go to bed, since they would have to leave early the next day. However, he had met serious protest in the progress, and had to relented in the end. Shirou could understand though, with all the excitement after a match like that, he couldn't blame the teens for not being able to sleep right away.

It took them another thirty minutes to finally be able to settle down. The girls returned to their tent, while the boys retreated to their own quarters. Shirou, as always, bunked with Ron and had had to waited until his quarter-mate had finished changing and secured in his own bed to pull out the mysterious parchment. The light in there was dim, but he had no problem reading it. There was only one sentence written in there though.

_See me at the clearing on the other side of the stadium at midnight._

_A.G_

Obviously, Shirou didn't recognize the writing. But he had had a good guess on who this A.G was. Taking a quick look at his old watch, he noted that it was already a few minutes past eleven. He would have to go soon in order to be there on time.

Twenty minutes later, Shirou rolled off his bed and changed as silently as he could. On the bed next to his, Ron was snoring loudly, indicating that the red head was out like a log. He silently hoped for the rest of the Weasleys to be asleep as well.

Unfortunately, his wish was denied mercilessly.

"Where are you going at this hour, Potter?" It was Percy Weasley who asked. For some reason, the guy wasn't sleeping, but was sitting outside of the tent with an open book, a quill and some parchments, sipping on a cup of tea.

"I couldn't sleep and was about to go for a walk," Shirou shrugged, silently cursing his luck. "The same could be said for you, I guess?"

"Excitement from the match it seems," Percy nodded. He then puffed his chest out proudly. "Also, I still have some reports that needs to be done for my new job. So I'm just using my time wisely."

"Well, don't let me disturb you then..."

"Stop. You're still a minor. You can't wander around at this time. We are tasked with taking care of you. And I'd hate it if something happened to you on our watch."

"Oh come on, what can happen around here?" Shirou replied, holding back an urge to sigh. "I'm just go around for some fresh air and will be back before you know it."

"That's what you say, but..." Percy glanced around and frowned. "Let me go with you then."

"There's no need," Shirou said hastily as the older(?) boy was about to stand up. "Don't let me interfere with your work. Your boss wouldn't be very happy if the reports aren't perfect, would he?"

"You're right. Mr. Crouch is very strict..." the guy narrowed his eyes, obviously torn. Shirou could see the uncertainty in his expression. But it seemed like one final push was needed.

"I can see that from just looking at him," Shirou shook his head as he spoke in the most sympathetic voice possible. "You're a new guy too. You should focus on earning his favor by showing him how hard working and effective you are."

Silence descended on both of them for a moment as Percy considered his words. Shirou was getting impatient. Adam had contacted him, possibly for some information like he promised. Even if it was way sooner than Shirou expected, it still wouldn't do for him to be late.

Luckily, just when Shirou decided to use hypnotism on the red head, despite him not being very good at it, Percy was able to come to a decision.

"Fine," he said. "But don't wander too far and return early. Dad would freak out if he woke up and noticed that you were gone. And thank you for the advice, Potter," he finished the last part after some hesitation. A small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Shirou's eyes widened a little. That was the first time he saw Percy Weasley smile at him in a friendly way. However, he was running late and that definitely wasn't the time to be amused.

"You're welcome," giving him a nod, Shirou then wasted no time and walked away from the tent. He walked as fast as he could since there were still many people awake and celebrating. It would attract too much attention if he were to use his reinforced speed or even run now.

* * *

Somehow, Shirou still managed to reach his destination on time. It took him a few minutes to find the mentioned clearing though. He had to give Adam credit for finding that place. It wasn't very far from the stadium, but was out of sight and quite private. From there, he could still hear people talking from afar. But his surrounding at the moment was completely still. There wasn't even any animal around to be detected. Shirou wondered if it was because of the Ministry's ward, or this forest was empty in the first place.

There wasn't anyone there when he first arrived, or at least not anyone he could see, but Shirou was able to picked up Adam's prana signature somewhere on his left. The man was using some kind of spell to stay invisible, but Shirou had seen him do magic enough times to remember the 'smell' of his prana.

"It's not very polite to hide yourself from your guest, Mister Greengrass," he grinned, looking directly at the place he knew Adam was standing.

"Sharp as always, Mister Potter," the man chuckled as he canceled the spell and appeared. He then process to put up privacy wards. "So you can see through Disillusion spell too. You surprise me to no end."

"More like I sensed it," Shirou shrugged. "I'm very sensitive with magical energy. Though how effective it's going to be once I'm in a magic filled atmosphere like Hogwarts is still a question."

"I see," Adam looked thoughtful for a second. "Well, we will have to wait and see about that, Mister Potter."

"Please call me Harry," Shirou quickly interrupted. "All the pleasantry tire me out. Now that we're in a partnership, can we drop that?"

"You'll have to call me Adam then. But I'd prefer it if we can keep it up in public."

"I think I can live with that, Adam," he smiled politely. "So, if I understand it right, you have some information for me?"

"Yes, your first part-time job," Adam grinned, but his face quickly fell back into a serious expression. "There will be a Death Eater raid in roughly an hour from now."

"This is from your spy? I thought the Death Eaters were, in the most part, disbanded after the fall of Vo… Jones?"

"Yes, but recently, they are getting back together. It looks like our dear Jones has finally managed to make a come back, or at least someone is pretending to be him. I'm saying that because the one who contacted the old Death Eaters, our spy included, didn't show himself. But the fact that their Dark Marks were burning worse and worse for the past couple of months is enough to convince most of them of their master's return. And they complied in fear of being punished."

"Just because of that?" Shirou couldn't help but raised an eyebrow. "Isn't too solid of an evidence in my opinion."

"The magic used in the Dark Mark was linked directly to Jones," Adam sighed, leaning against a tree. "Only him can affect it. If it's acting strange, then it has to have something to do with him."

"But there was no reason to believe that he was the one gathering the Death Eaters if he didn't show himself."

"That's part of his training, Harry. Part of how he controls his subordinates. Fear. Jones implanted that in their heads until it became their instinct to answer his call whenever the Mark was involved, even if he wasn't there. A strong willed person who never bows to someone else won't be able to understand. Though if faced with that bastard directly, that person probably wouldn't come out alive if he were to defy him."

"So they would rather follow that anonymous order blindly?" Shirou snickered, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Wasn't very bright of them, was it? What if they were caught? They would go to jail. Not to mention there would be a chance of the whole world knowing about their master's return if that happened."

"You're forgetting some of the most basic things about this world, Harry," Adam waved his hand impatiently before launching into explanation. "First, the Ministry is corrupted. So what if they were caught? Some of them are rich enough to buy their way out. And with a generous 'donation' afterward, all is forgiven. The rest could be rescued by Jones sooner or later, since they wouldn't be sentenced to death, that's a given. And by doing so, they wouldn't have to fear of being punished later on."

"Secondly," he continued after a short rest. "The people here _don't want _to believe that Jones has returned, or is returning. They refused to believe that. And believe me when I said that Fudge is going to be the first one to deny it. We're going to remove him from the Minister seat soon enough, of course. But in the mean time, the people are going to listen to him."

"So basically, even if some of the captured Death Eaters claimed that they were acting under the Dark Lord's order, it would be swept under the rug," Shirou sighed heavily and started massaging his forehead. This was more complicated than he thought. Prior to all of this, he had had no experience when it came to dealing with corrupted government or politics. For the first time, he realized that saving people was much more complicated than destroying some wish granting machines and killing monsters.

_Facing Servants in battle is probably less of a headache than this, _he thought tiredly.

"Hold on a second," finally, he looked up and asked. "Is there any chance that Jones, or whoever is behind this, is also the one that's rallying the attacks on the muggleborns students lately?"

"We believe so," Adam nodded wearily. "On one hand, they're further widening the wedge between pure bloods and muggleborns, effectively dividing us. On the other, they're causing chaos with the raids. If I'm not wrong, there will soon be many more in the future. Of course, with the current Minister, they're not going to admit that the Dark Lord's back. But gradually, those raids are going to plant fear and distrust between people, and between people and the Ministry."

"A world like that is like a cake waiting to be devoured by Jones," Shirou murmured angrily. "And if Jones can keep his presence hidden, no one is going to believe in his return even if the slaughter keep going."

"Exactly, I'm glad you understand, Harry," Adam replied, a smile could be seen on his face. "Cloak and dagger, kidnapping, torturing and manipulating, all the while hiding in the shadow. That's how Jones operated before he gathered enough power to make his raise to power public during the last war. Sadly how people are all too easy to forget that..."

"Anyway," Shirou sighed again. "There's nothing we can do about it right now. So there will be a raid, where?"

"Here."

"For real?" His eyebrows shot up, but Shirou quickly collected himself. It was to be expected. If they wanted to cause fear and chaos, what was more fitting than an international gathering? This was a big event after all.

"So have you contacted the Aurors?" Finally, he asked.

"Not yet," Adam shook his head. "We can't do it too early. If somehow they knew that their plan was leaked, it could compromise our spy's position. And we can't interfere too early for the same reason."

"Are you serious?" Shirou growled. "We're talking about the safety of many people..."

"If our spy is busted, we won't be alerted of future raids, and even more people are going to suffer," Adam shot back, glaring at him. "You think it's easy to make that decision?" His expression then turned softer visibly. "Of course, we have you on our side now. We're going to let them advance for a little bit, but we will make sure that no serious damage is done. Well, maybe a few burned tents and injured people. They won't kill, not in public, even bribery and 'donation' won't be able to erase that kind of crime from their record. Or at least I hope so."

"You're to optimistic, Adam," Shirou replied bitterly. "But you know more than me. I'll trust your judgment on this one while doing my best to prevent damage."

"We all will," the man then looked at his pocket watch. "We have over half an hour more. And I have some last things for us to go through."

"I'm listening."

"First, I'd like you to hide your face. It wouldn't do to have people seeing Harry Potter killing."

"Well, that's kind of obvious," Shirou mumbled.

"Yes, yes it is," Adam laughed. "I'll conjure you an outfit later. What you're wearing isn't really suited for battle," he eyed the jeans and shirt Shirou was wearing.

"That I agree," Shirou nodded. "And they can't hide my face either."

"Indeed. I can put a Glamour Charm on you, but a hooded fighter is much more mysterious and dangerous. And make sure that whatever you do, don't leave a link between the fighter and Harry Potter. It's best if you can keep using your archery like you did last time, instead of wand. Or you can use swords if you like?" The man suggested, no doubt remembering the time he was threatened by a short sword.

Shirou shrugged noncommittally. It wasn't like he could use a wand anyway.

"Okay then," Adam continued. "It's best if we can keep that fighter consistent. Someone who can become a symbol, striking fear into our enemy. On the other hand, Harry Potter gets to keep his innocence and is a firm supporter of the Light. He doesn't kill his opponents in battles. That image will go a long way in political field. We have to make the most out of it. That's in case you're going to join us full time, of course. If you refuse, you can do it however you see fit. But please follow that, at least for now. Later on, when the war finally broke out, we can have those two identities merged and people won't complain as you will become a war hero. But it will be safer to keep them separated at the moment."

Shirou silently nodded again. He was impressed, Adam Greengrass sure liked to plan ahead in his game. But when he remembered his stories about his group being able to replace even the Minister and sway the political field, it wasn't all that surprising anymore, assuming they were the truth. Shirou didn't like the part where he had to use his fame. But the magus part in him, and the fact that they were going to war, were telling him that he had to make use of everything available.

Of course, in the end it all came down to whether he accepted their invitation or not. For now, Shirou decided to wait and see. There was no harm in follow what Adam had just told him, at least for the time being.

His thoughts then shifted. And finally, it dawned on him that he was going to take lives. Part of his brain had already registered those Death Eaters as monsters, not people. But even so, it was still hard to swallow. He was not EMIYA after all, and never had any desire to become that guy.

_For the very least, none of them had turned a whole village into bloodthirsty ghouls_. Shirou shivered slightly at the memory. That was his first kill after the Holy Grail War.

"You okay?" Adam's voice pulled him back to reality.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just thinking about some old memories."

"Alright then. Another issue. Our spy is going to be amongst them. He will be the last one in the middle line when they appeared. So use that time to take down as many as you can. But if it becomes chaotic and you can't keep track of him anymore, retreat and let the Aurors and Ministry workers handle the rest. If you keep attacking by that point, you can accidentally kill the spy. And it would be suspicious if you suddenly stopped using lethal attacks. Also, I want some of them alive and escape to spread the words. You can come back as Harry Potter and using stunners to help if you want. It'd help your Light image, though I imagine the Weasleys won't be happy if they know about it."

Harry snorted, imagining the look on Molly's face when she realized that he had put himself in danger. He immediately saw that it wasn't very funny though. They cared about him, or at least, about Harry. It wouldn't sit right with him to upset them. Even if it was just a play, part of him wanted to keep those people happy as long as he could before the secret was out of the bag and they resented him. However, the other part was yelling at him that it wasn't right not to help stopping the Death Eaters, even with just stunners.

Luckily, it wasn't even a debate in the first place as he couldn't use a wand. Also, as Adam said, those bastard probably weren't going to kill in public. But who knew? What if they were enraged from his attack and started killing regardless of consequence?

_If worst comes to worsts, I will have to take them all, spy or not, _Shirou told himself. That was a desperate measure. For now, he would focus on reducing their number, thinning them out enough for the Aurors to take them on without any casualty.

"Well, it's almost time," Adam informed him, looking at his watch again. "It's time for your outfit. Anything in mind?"

"Well yes, I'm glad that you asked," Shirou grinned ear to ear. "I thought you were just going to conjure me some makeshift tight suit and a hood."

"Hey, I'm not that cheap," Adam protested, putting up his hands. "But it's not permanent and is going to disappear in a couple of hours. So if you have your specific design, buy or have it tailored for real next time."

"Got it."

* * *

Ten minutes later, after describing to Adam the details of his outfit, a white shadow leaped through the forest, heading for the other end of the stadium. That was where the Death Eaters were going to gather. He would let them advance for awhile before interfering.

Shirou was quite pleased with what he was wearing. At first, he was going for his old attire, a full Archer EMIYA set. However, at the last minute, another idea popped up inside his head. He then had Adam changed its colors. The cloak, or shroud, became white and added a hood, while the tight suit beneath was dark blue. In Shirou's opinion, it had more 'Saber' feel that way, and he actually liked it better, which wasn't really a surprise. He'd always liked Saber way more than he had Archer.

_And it fits well too, _he grinned as he dashed, leaped from places to places, avoiding roots and other obstacles in the way. The materials was different, of course. But it still gave him a somewhat familiar feeling like he had when he was in his old suit.

Finally, Shirou stopped and hid himself behind a tree when he heard people talking at the other end of the stadium. Murmuring 'Trace on.', he traced his bow and reinforced his hearing, attempting eavesdropping on the Death Eaters. Peaking out from behind his cover, with reinforced sight, he could make out at least thirty black robed, hooded and masked people standing in three lines and was whispering between themselves. He couldn't help but frowned. Thirty was a bit too many for him to take down quickly with the limited level of reinforcement that this body could endure. But he had to do his best nevertheless.

_I hope I wouldn't have to resorts to swords, _Shirou thought grimly. Despite what Adam suggested, he intended to stick to bow and arrows for as long as he could and saved swords fighting for his Harry Potter persona. It was a bit odd and could draw attention if wasn't set up carefully, but there was no guarantee that the wand-blade that Dumbledore spoke of would work for him. Even if it worked, there was still a chance that he sucked big time at this world's magic. Therefore, he needed a way to defense himself while keeping up the 'Boy-Who-Lived' act.

Turning his eyes, Shirou then took a glance at the one standing last of the middle line. He noted that the figure was rather petite.

_Could 'he' actually be a 'she'? _He raised an eyebrow. Yes, the 'guy' had some feminine features if Shirou's eyes weren't tricking him. But he couldn't be sure. It was dark, and reinforced vision could only help so much. Besides, with all those robe layers, he couldn't be certain of anything.

_Well, it doesn't matter, _shaking his head, Shirou withdrew his head back behind the tree and started focusing on their conversation instead.

"Is everyone here?" A squeaky voice asked.

"Seems so," A deeper, hoarser voice answered. "It's time to move. The fools are still celebrating, but we will get to hear their screams soon."

There was a streak of pleasure in the man's voice that made Shirou's anger rise a little, but he remained still.

"Are we allowed to kill them?" A sickening high-pitched voice asked. Shirou couldn't see his face, but he could imagine that person was grinning madly under his mask. It made him feel a little sicker as his hand tightened the grip on the bow.

"No killing," the one with hoarse voice snapped. "You can destroy all you want, torturing some mudbloods as you see fit, but don't kill anyone, the order is clear. You all have your portkey, right? Good, it will activate automatically if you're hit, so don't worry about being captured. Play to your heart's content."

"But no killing," the squeaky voice added.

"Yes, no killing. Now, let's move."

"Tsk," Shirou chucked in annoyance. Adam didn't give him any info about those portkeys. Did his spy leave it out of the report? Or it was a last minute addition? Or that man purposely kept it from him? He would have to ask Adam later. For now, the plan wouldn't change, portkeys or not. The Aurors wouldn't be able to identify those who died later on though. And as those Death Eaters said themselves, there wouldn't be any capture at this rate.

Leaving his hiding spot, Shirou silently trailed the moving group. Soon enough, they reached the camping site. For a moment, the people there were surprised. Some of them stopped celebrating and stared at the masked group. But most of them were unaware, and was still drinking, dancing and cheering. It was only when the leading Death Eaters cast the first spell that set the nearest tent on fire that people noticed something wrong.

Only a moment later, people started screaming and running as fast as they could, trying to get away from the group of terrorists. Some of them wasn't very lucky though, and was hit by a spell that Shirou didn't recognize at first, but soon realized the Cruciatus Curse, one of the Unforgivables when he saw its victims fell down, twitched and screamed in agony. He had read about it before, since it was the favorite torturing tools of the Dark Lord and his boot lickers. However, this was the first time he actually witness it being used on a person. Needless to say, it made his blood boil beyond control. The fact that those Death Eaters started using curses to hang people up in the air and started cutting at them, while watching them bleeding and screaming in pain definitely didn't help his temper, something Shirou was proud of having a very good control over.

_This is far enough, _gritting his teeth, he quickly traced an arrow, raising his bow, taking aim and released. The arrow soared through the air, and before anyone knew it, found it target. The nearest Death Eater, who was too busy using the Cruciatus on a young witch, never got the chance to scream in pain as sharp steel pierced his head. He fell wordlessly to the ground and a pool of blood started to form under his face. The arrow then vanished without a trace. The body followed shortly after due to the portkey. The other Death Eaters still hadn't noticed what happened to one of their members, continuing to torture defenseless people. Those who tried to fight back got it even worse. They were bound and forced to watch their family members screaming in pain.

_Monsters, _Shirou reminded himself. _They couldn't be called human anymore. Monsters…_

Taking a quick look, Shirou was a bit relieved to see Adam's spy was mostly keeping himself from other people. From the start, the guy just went around and started burning empty tents and breaking a few things, but didn't use any spell on anyone.

Still keeping an eye on the spy, another arrow appeared in his hand. It quickly found the head of another monster who crumbled like a puppet and disappeared. It actually took two more arrows for them to realize that they were being attacked. However, another monster fell before they were able to locate Shirou. A barrage of nasty looking curses went flying in his direction. With his reinforced senses, he easily jumped out of the way, firing off another arrow before taking shelter behind a rather large tree trunk.

Tracing another arrow, Shirou peaked out from behind the tree, intending to take out another Death Eater. However, he had had to hastily pulled back just as a green beam almost hit him square on the face. The barrage continued relentlessly and Shirou could hear the trunk he was hiding behind being gradually shredded to pieces.

"Come out here you sneaky rat," One of the monsters yelled.

"Too scared to show your face, eh? Come out and we will give you the less painful death," another one taunted, cackling madly. Shirou ignored them though. Who in the world would be affected by those nonsense, he had no idea.

_Okay, maybe one versus thirty wasn't my brightest idea. Doesn't mean I can't pull it off though, _taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Shirou then poured more prana into his body. He was using the same reinforcement level as he did during the alley fight. But he knew it wasn't his limit. Right now, he could even put a little bit more into it thanks to some exercises he took during his time at the Burrow.

After feeling the desired effect on his body, Shirou dashed out from the cover, just in time before the tree collapsed. Seeing the white blur, the Death Eaters started firing after him. However, their spells couldn't match his new speed. Shirou dashed, jumped, rolled on the ground, all the while slipping his own attacks in between. Some of those monsters were actually smart enough to bring up shields, but not before several of them had fallen. And even after they did so, some of his arrows still managed to slip through the gaps between them and struck ones in the back. The spy was still keeping his distance, pretending to watch over the captured witches and wizards, all the while keeping them from doing anything foolish and getting themselves killed. Shirou silently noted to ask Adam to pass over his thanks later.

His attacks only lasted for awhile though, after losing around seven members, the Death Eaters' shields actually became enough to cover them effectively from mundane arrows. The shock had passed, they quickly fell into lines, the ones in the front did the shielding while the ones in the back firing curses after curses. Just as Shirou expected, the Killing Curse was being used more and more. Though with this tactic, the amount of curses flying at him was reduced greatly, making it easier for him to breath. During their earlier barrage, some of them actually came very close to hitting him, way too close for his comfort.

Seeing his arrows became useless, the shaken Death Eaters soon regained their confidence and started laughing like maniacs as they fired off curses (both spells and verbal) at him. Luckily, with the forest providing him its natural covers, it wasn't much of a danger. However, what he was about to do next required a sacrifice on his part.

With a side way leap to avoid five sickly green beams, he could actually feel their terrible power as they passed by where he was standing just a moment ago and destroyed another tree behind him. As soon as he regained his balance, Shirou traced a red lance, Gae Dearg, and reshaped it into an arrow. He could actually felt his Circuits heated up and humming as his prana running through them. Despite being a weapon, Gae Dearg wasn't a blade, thus it cost him much more prana to be able to trace the lance. However, no one could deny that it was the perfect weapon against pure magical barriers.

Aiming the bow at the middle of the enemy group, Shirou quickly fired it off. He immediately dived to his right, another Gae Dearg was already in his hand. He didn't bother to stop to look at the scarlet beam shot off from his bow, seamlessly went through one of the middle Death Eater's shield like it wasn't there, before impaling the monster together with another behind him, sending them flying backward several meters and vanished. Before they managed to recover, Shirou dished out as many attacks as he could, bringing them down quickly.

The series of attacks were enough to leave the rest of them in shock, several Death Eaters screamed in terror before manually activating their portkeys and fled. A handful of them were still fighting though. But without the power of number, they were quickly taken care of. One by one, and another occasion of Gae Dearg skewed three of them at once, the remaining monsters were wiped out. The spy was the only one left. From a distance, Shirou could see the guy(?) giving him an ever slightly nod before activating his own portkey and escaped. Aside from the hostages, Shirou was now the only one left on the scene. He was sweating furiously and his Magic Circuits were burning inside his body.

The Aurors arrived shortly after and freed the hostages. They then quickly moved on investigating the blood on the ground. Obviously, Shirou had vanished all of his arrows before their arrival.

"Perfect timing, as always," Shirou mumbled with displeasure as he watched the whole progress under the shadow of the forest. For two occasion where he was at the scene of an attack, those so called protectors of the law never arrived on bloody time to stop the offense. And it irritated him to no end.

Too focused on the Aurors and Ministry workers, Shirou almost missed a sudden unfamiliar magic signature popped up behind his back. Without looking, he threw himself down to the ground, barely avoided a Killing Curse as it soared above his head. Without missing a beat, Shirou rolled around and jumped up, bow drawn. However, the signature had disappeared, leaving on the sky behind him a giant, glittering green mark of a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. It took Shirou only an instant to recognize the symbol.

The Dark Mark. The mark that Voldemort used to brand his Death Eaters or as a warning after every raid conducted by his army. However, why they used it here was beyond Shirou. There was a raid, yes, but it was an utter failure. From his count, he had managed to kill nineteen of them before the rest escaped. That couldn't be an opportunity to show off his mark, could it?

Fortunately, or unfortunately for Shirou, he soon discovered the purpose of Voldemort's mark. Before he managed to react, the light from several wands reached his place as almost a dozen of wizards apparated around him, wand strained at his head. It was only then Shirou realized that the Apparition ward had been lifted, and he was surrounded.

"Lower your weapon and surrender your wand," in front of him, a dark skinned wizard in Auror uniform ordered. Him and the rest of the group were eyeing his bow carefully. When the guy saw no reaction from Shirou, he repeated, this time louder.

"I said lower your weapon and surrender your wand. You've been arrested for suspicion of murders and casting the Dark Mark."

**End of Chapter 8.**

** Dark0w1: Well, looks like you got half of your wish there :v. Lots of dead Death Eaters, though their identities wouldn't be revealed immediately.**


	9. The Aftermath

_**Author's note: **_**Another update. Thank you all for your support :D.**

****Please read this**: Thank you, Skelo, for correcting the mistake I made with Hrunting about how it couldn't destroy pure magical barriers. Anyway, I changed the last part of the previous chapter from Shirou using Hrunting to Gae Dearg. I just want to inform the readers of that detail so they wouldn't be surprise at the start of this chapter. You can go back to read it if you want, though there wasn't any major change.**

**That's all. Enjoy :D.**

* * *

"_Lower your weapon and surrender your wand," in front of him, a dark skinned wizard in Auror uniform ordered. Him and the rest of the group were eyeing his bow carefully. When the guy saw no reaction from Shirou, he repeated, this time louder._

"_I said lower your weapon and surrender you wand. You've been arrested for suspicion of murders and casting the Dark Mark."_

* * *

Shirou was _not _very pleased with himself at the moment. He should have left the scene right after finishing his job, or at least be careful enough to notice the ward going down. Now it appeared that he had been put into a tight spot, surrounded by Aurors and had wands pointed at his face. Sweats started to form on Shirou's forehead as his mind raced, trying to find a way to escape.

Normally, it would be an easy task for him. Unfortunately, this time, it would require him to break the Aurors' circle around him, without seriously harming anyone, before making his escape, and the close distance between them make it hard to dodge spells like he did earlier. Additionally, he would have to race against people who could Apparate. His weakened body aside, his Magic Circuits were also currently under strain from tracing numerous Gae Dearg against the Death Eaters.

"Young man, do you hear what I just said?" The Auror repeated himself. A trace of annoyance slipped into his voice. As it would serve no purpose to antagonize him any longer, Shirou heaved out a sigh and dropped his bow to the ground.

"Good, now your wand," he ordered. It seemed like they were afraid of coming too close to Shirou, most likely because they'd already taken testimony from the witnesses and had been told that he was physically superior than a normal person.

"I don't have one," Shirou said, keeping his body still. He only had himself to rely on now. There was no guarantee that Adam would save his butt this time, and even if he would, Shirou wouldn't want it. Dumbledore could easily trace his connection back to Adam Greengrass if it was revealed that he didn't work alone, given how suddenly he was in contact several times with said man, whom he had had no relation to prior to his arrival.

"Do not joke around," another Auror growled. "It's better if you were to be honest now. From what the witnesses' statements, you've been seen murdering many people tonight. And the Dark Mark..."

"I repeat, I don't have a wand," Shirou replied calmly, despite the tension he was feeling. "Therefore, I couldn't have cast the Dark Mark. And those were Death Eaters for Merlin's sake. They were torturing people. Where were you guys then? Maybe if you had arrived sooner I wouldn't have to do anything."

It was just then Shirou realized that he'd unconsciously used the name 'Merlin' in his speech. Living in this world and heard Ron used it almost everyday had really started rubbing off on him. He then mentally smacked himself for worrying about such irrelevant thing at such wrong time.

"You..." The earlier Auror snarled angrily as he took a step ahead. He was soon stopped by the dark skinned man.

"Not now, Dawlish."

"But Shacklebolt, you've heard..."

"Yes, I have," Shacklebolt glared at his colleague, effectively shutting the man up before turning back to Shirou. "He has a point though. We responded to the attack too late. However, killing people is still against the law, Death Eaters or not. What If they were just fake? What would you do then, young man?"

"They were torturing people, mind you. Some even forced family members to watch as their loved ones being tortured. If they weren't Death Eaters then they were very close," Shirou snorted humorlessly.

"That maybe the case, you still can't take the law in your own hands," Shacklebolt frowned heavily. "If you're also the one who responsible for the Diagon Alley incident, that makes two times. Now adding the murder charges into the mix, we simply can't let you go. If you don't have a wand, lower your hood. We need to see your face."

"Sorry. Can't do that," Shirou shrugged.

"Now see here, you insolent brat. You will take off that bloody hood or we will do it for you. You think it's cool to run around killing people while wearing costume?" Dawlish shouted angrily, pointing his finger at Shirou. He didn't mind though. If anything, that man's temper would be his ticket out of here.

"Try me," Shirou snickered in a mocking tone. Apparently that was the last straw as Dawlish plunged ahead with an enraged shout, reaching for his hood. However, the instance he moved, Shirou reinforced his body, grabbing the man's arm and drove his fist into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. All of it happened within only a brief moment. By the time the remaining Aurors managed to react and several stunners were fired, Shirou had already got behind Dawlish and used the poor man as a shield before dashing through the gap made by him, leaving the Auror behind, getting hit by at least half a dozen Stupefy.

"Don't let him escape, after him. Tonks, you take Dawlish back to the headquarter and have him treated immediately," Shacklebolt shouted before firing off his stunner at the escaping white blur. His colleagues followed his lead, but all of the spells were completely out of mark as Shirou's speed and the forest's cover made it impossible to hit him from a distance.

_It's going well, for now, _Shirou thought as he leaped over a big root. In truth, he felt a little sorry for the Dawlish fellow, but he had to get away somehow. The problem was that he'd pushed the body pass its limit with that bit of 'Reinforcement' to take down the Auror. His upper body was getting numb. It was still bearable, but he would need to rest soon.

Dodging another stunner aimed at his back, Shirou then vanished his earlier dropped bow and traced a new one and a blunt arrow. He was about to use Black Keys instead but decided against it. The light source from the Dark Mark is unstable, not to mention all the Aurors were using Lumos. It wouldn't do to have one of his tactics defeated just because the target's shadow accidentally changed its location after being pinned down. It would be safer if he were to stun them, even if it was going to leave bruises.

True to Shirou's prediction, just a few seconds later, an Auror popped up ahead of him, wand raised. However, before the first word of the spell escaped his lips, he was struck square between the eyes by a blunt arrow, knocking his head backward before the man fell on his back. From the look of it, it would be awhile until he got up.

After that, several other Aurors shared the same fate, some were struck in the legs as soon as they appeared, knocking them down, while the others in the chest, rendering them unable to breath for a short while. No less than three times, some of the curses, stunners and occasional Full body-binds came quite close to hitting Shirou as his speed started to drop. He wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. Luckily, most of the Aurors had been taken care off. There were only Shacklebolt and another left. That 'another' soon went down by an arrow to the head, however. The dark skinned man, on the other hand, proved to be quite a challenge. He was able to block five arrows from Shirou. The speed of him putting up Shield Charm was something to be looked out for.

Finally, it took Shirou four other shots to be able to knock the wand out of his last pursuer's hand before taking him out with another arrow. His Circuits were now burning from extensive use. Sweats covered his entire body as he canceled the Reinforcement. The sudden change almost made his legs give out but Shirou managed to stop himself from collapsing by leaning against a tree. He didn't rest for long though. If he didn't hurry, the Aurors might be able to recover and this time, there would be no escape.

* * *

A few minutes later, Shirou was able to return to the clearing behind the stadium. His legs had recovered somewhat and his steps had become steadier, but the upper body, especially his arms, were still numb and twitching occasionally. He still could control them, but not without some effort in his part. Luckily, Adam had already been there under the Disillusion Charm when he returned.

"There you are. We need to move, now. Don't say anything. Questions can wait until we stop," the man said without canceling the charm.

Before Shirou was able to nod, Adam grabbed his arm and with a loud 'Pop', the two of them reappeared in an unfamiliar empty alley. As Shirou looked around to take in their surrounding, Adam quickly motioned him to go into another one several blocks ahead. They then apparated once again. The two repeated the process four more times at different destinations before returning to another part of the forest near the Greengrasses' tent, where they had their conversation before the match. The moment Adam released his hand, Shirou almost collapsed, but he was able to use a tree nearby to support himself.

That wasn't the first time Shirou experienced Apparating, but going through it repeatedly while his body was in a bad condition didn't leave a good impression. Shirou felt dizzy and nauseous as he took in a deep breath to prevent himself from throwing out his dinner. His outfit was drenched with sweats and his arms were twitching uncontrollably.

_Not good, but not the worst situation I've found myself in, _Shirou lamented as he leaned completely against the tree and lower his hood. Around five minutes later, he had recovered somewhat. His breathing had almost returned to normal and his arms stopped twitching, though they were still numb. Looking at Adam and seeing the man, who was now no longer under Disillusion Charm, staring at him patiently, Shirou asked.

"Why didn't we come straight here?"

"To prevent the Aurors from tracking our apparating destinations. Change into this, quickly," Adam handed Shirou his original clothes as soon as they arrived. After he had finished changing behind a tree, Shirou gave Adam back the conjured costume, which was vanished immediately with a wave of the wand.

"I've also disposed of the message I sent you earlier," Adam said. "Not a good night, eh?"

"Definitely not the best I've had. But I'd call it a success," Shirou wiped the sweats off of his forehead as he got his breath under a meditating pace. "I'd had to use some more...special skills against the Death Eaters since they outnumbered me. And the escape from the Aurors had taken a toll on my body as well."

"We certainly didn't expect things to turn out like that. Sorry I couldn't assist you."

"It's my fault too. And I can't blame you for not rescuing me if you want our connection to be a secret," Shirou shrugged and Adam nodded gratefully. "However, I want answer about the portkeys that the Death Eaters used."

"Right," Adam frowned. "To be frank, it surprised me as well. It must be a last minute addition to the plan..."

"Are you sure your spy didn't hide that from you?"

"Hardly. That kind of information, while important, didn't change much of the outcome if you were going for the kill. There wasn't anything to gain by hiding it."

Shirou had to agree with him. Those portkeys made it impossible to just simply disable the Death Eaters and capture them, but if they were killed on the spot, where their bodies went to after that didn't really matter anymore. Still, if he were Adam, he would be more suspicious of the spy's truthfulness for the time being.

"You've done a good job tonight, Harry," Adam smiled, looking at him. "Our spy will send me the report by this time tomorrow at the latest. I'll try to contact you as soon as possible. For now, let us return you to the Weasleys. They're no doubt worrying their eyes out about you."

"Damn," Shirou murmured as he remembered about the red head family. They would be upset with him for sure. All the actions earlier had pushed them out of his mind for awhile, but right now, he could say that it wouldn't be very pleasant to come back and see them.

_And wait until Mrs. Weasley hear about it, _in the end, he said with a deep sigh. "I'm ready. Let's go."

Adam then stepped ahead and grabbed his arm. Once again, they apparated together and appeared right in front of the Weasleys' tent. Nearby, a group of red heads, together with Hermione, were talking frantically between themselves. They quickly turned around as they heard the sound of Shirou and Adam appearing.

"Harry!" Seeing them, Hermione squeaked out as she launched herself toward Shirou, forcefully enough to remind him that his legs still hadn't fully recovered yet. Under the additional weight of the bushy haired witch, they gave out and send both of them falling down to the ground, landing on Shirou's back, making him grunt out of pain.

"Her...mione," Shirou murmured breathlessly as all the air had been pushed out of his lungs. "Please...Can't...breath..."

"Oh… Sorry," a wide-eyed Hermione soon realized what she'd just done. She hastily stood up and fixed her clothing, blushing a little. "I was so worried. There was a Death Eaters attack and you weren't anywhere to be seen. Percy said that you had gone out earlier..."

"It's okay," Shirou said as he was pulled up on his feet by a grinning Adam. "I have to apologize too. I couldn't sleep and was out for a walk. Sorry," the last part he said to the Weasleys as well. Arthur, Bill and Charlie were nowhere to be seen. Maybe they were out looking for him. Shirou couldn't read Ginny's face, while Ron was switching his suspicious glare between Adam and Shirou. The twins looked obviously relived. Percy, however, was wearing a grave expression on his ashen face. Shirou understood immediately. It was Percy who allowed him to go out earlier, and now the guy was feeling guilty about his decision.

_I should speak with him later, _Shirou made a mental note and sighed before turning to Ron.

"Where are your father and brothers?" He asked, still trying to keep his arms from twitching. It wouldn't do to let them know that he was hurt in anyway.

"Dad has gone to help the Ministry workers. Bill and Charlie are looking for you, I suppose," Ron shrugged.

"So is everything alright here?"

"Pretty much, yeah. The attack didn't reach this place, so we were told to stay close and don't wander off alone," Fred answered. "That Dark Mark though. I wonder if someone died..."

The rest of the group shuddered at the question. It seemed like no one wanted to think about it.

"So where were you, Harry?" Hermione asked. But before he could answer, Adam jumped to his rescue.

"Found the young lad hiding in the forest near where the Death Eaters struck," the man said with a smile. "Took him back here as soon as I saw him."

"Oh right, thank you for that, Mister Greengrass. I saw the Dark Mark and didn't dare to move from there. You almost gave me a heart attack when you grabbed me though," Shirou smiled at him. That was a good cover just as any.

"Don't mention it. As long as you're safe. And I'm sorry for that, Mister Potter," Adam bent down and placed both hands on his shoulders. He then murmured.

"If I were you, I'd be careful with the Polyjuice or whatever you're using. Some of your hairs are turning white. Not that many but one can notice if they pay attention."

With a final pat, Adam stood straight up and said goodbye to the group. He then apparated away, leaving behind a frozen Shirou. He remembered Rin saying something about that topic before. And if she was right, then his soul had started reforming Harry Potter's body to make it look like how Shirou Emiya once was. The problem was that he didn't know how long it would take for the process to complete. And that didn't sit well with him, not at all.

_I've been here for over a month and it starts just now… _Shirou mused. Given the nature of the process, it was bound to happen sooner or later. But was it just a coincidence that it happened right after his first extensive use of magecraft in this world? He knew for a fact that his original look was gradually changing to that of EMIYA's for that very reason. Was there any chance that keep using magecraft would speed up the transformation?

Many questions swirled around in Shirou's head with no definite answer. In the end though, all he could do was wait and see. For now, he would limit his own use of magecraft and see if the process would speed up. If that wasn't the case and the transformation continued at the current rate, or worse, he would have to think of another plan.

_Let's focus on recovering first, _Shirou took a deep breath to calm himself down. Luckily, the Weasleys had returned to talk with each other and none of them seemed to have noticed anything. Hermione on the other hand, was giving him odd looks.

"Is there anything on my face, Hermione?" He tried to gave her the gentlest smile that he could mutter.

"Are you sure you aren't hurt, Harry?" Hermione asked, biting her lower lip. "Your arms look kind of stiff..." She then reached out and was about to touch his left arm before his instinct kicked in. Shirou instantly snapped away, getting his arm out of the girl's reach. He instantly regretted it though.

"Oh..." A shocked Hermione looked at him with wide eyes. She certainly didn't expect him to react that violently to her touch.

"I...I'm sorry..." She stammered and averted her gaze.

"No, it's my fault..." Shirou quickly said, hoping to fix the mistake. However, Hermione quickly shook her head.

"It's okay. I shouldn't just assume things like that."

With that, she turned away and walked hastily into her tent.

_Again? Great, Shirou, _Shirou thought sarcastically while looking at the tent's entrance where Hermione just disappeared into. Recently he was able to get used to the way she occasionally grab his hand, and he found himself didn't mind it all that much. However, he had let his guard down again tonight while trying to hide his injuries. Besides, it might sound like an excuse, but his head was actually still a bit hazy, both from the fighting, running and apparating.

What Shirou couldn't deny was that the damage he had managed to deal this time was tremendous.

_Well, it's probably for the best, _he sighed heavily while trying to convince himself that it would be better if he started distancing himself from the others now before the secret was out. His physical transformation had just started after all. However, much to his annoyance, another voice in his head kept telling him that it wasn't the right thing to do, hurting other people and left them be, on top of lying and manipulating them in the first place.

"Well, well, our little Harry," from behind came Fred's voice.

"I don't know what you've said to Hermione," George continued.

"But it makes her very upset."

"You should go and apologize when you still can."

"Because we think of her as our sister," Fred claimed and George nodded in agreement. "We won't forgive you if you hurt her."

"That's right. Even if you're Ron's best mate and our adoptive brother."

At their bantering, Shirou could only stare back, speechless. They had hit his desire to seek Hermione out and apologize. But the ruthless magus part in him was saying otherwise.

"Well, that said. I don't think you can do it right now though," Fred finally said, shrugging in an exaggerated manner. "But if I were you, I'll find the nearest chance to talk to her alone."

"Don't disappoint us, little Harry," George patted Shirou's shoulder encouragingly. The twins then returned to the boys' tent as well. All of a sudden, Shirou felt like he had a little too many people he had to apologize to. Shaking his head quickly and decided to deal with all of them later, he then followed the twins. Right now, he needed a quick shower to freshen up and a little rest.

* * *

Several hours and some light scolding from Arthur, Bill and Charlie later, Shirou and the rest of the group started packing for the return trip. He was still a little tired, but his condition had improved greatly after a good night sleep. There wasn't much to do though. In a hurry, Arthur just waved his wand to pack the tents, shrunk and put them into his pocket before motioned the kids to follow him to the portkey point.

Taking a glance at Hermione, Shirou sighed inwardly. The bushy haired girl had been avoiding his gaze ever since his slip the previous night. On a rare occasion when their eyes met, Hermione hastily looked away, but not before Shirou noticed her puffy red eyes.

_Now you make her cry, _he grimaced. Truth be told, Shirou had no experience when it came to crying girl and how to apologize to them. And he would prefer it very much if Hermione could just lash out at him with her logic like Rin used to do. At least by then, he could retort back and the two of them would make up afterward when they were both exhausted from all the bickering. Yes, he was definitely more familiar with that method of solving conflicts. But then again, not everyone was a prodigy magus with a teasing streak and an incredibly sharp tongue to back it up.

"Harry, quickly, we will leave in thirty seconds," Arthur's voice yanked Shirou out of his thought. He then quickly placed his finger on a normal toothbrush that Arthur was holding. Not long after, he was pulled into a whirlwind of colors before stumbled on the ground where they'd left the previous morning.

The group then started walking back to the Burrow. Not many conversations were exchanged on their way, mostly because they were still sleepy. It allowed Shirou to have another quiet moment for himself.

Percy and Hermione's problems aside, the memory of the Death Eaters raid was starting to come back. He was going to get into trouble with Dumbledore for sure. Shirou didn't really care as the Headmaster didn't actually have any hold on him for his actions. However, he was wondering if he could live with himself or not.

He had killed. Yes, no big deal, he had done that before. This time, however, he had taken almost twenty lives in a single night. Shirou didn't regret his action, not a little bit, since those he killed were just monsters in his eyes.

_Is that entirely true? _Shirou grimaced. No matter how much he convinced himself otherwise, deep in his subconscious, he knew that those monsters were, in fact, human in nature.

_That's exactly what is worrying me, _taking a deep breath to fill his lung with the chilly morning air, he tried to clear his head, but questions just kept popping up. He'd taken lives without hesitation or remorse. How many others was going to die by his hands by the end of the war? More importantly, how would Shirou himself feel about it? His dream was to save people, and by doing so, he'd have to kill. But was it really alright to commit genocide and think nothing of it? And the most frightening of all, to have this internal debate go away and become entirely indifferent to all of those actions?

Shirou shivered slightly at the thought, wondering if he too, would become one of the monsters one day.

"Are...Are you cold, Harry?" Ginny's voice snapped Shirou from his trance. Looking at his side, he saw the youngest Weasley looking up at him with a faint blush on her face. His eyes widened a little since she rarely talk at all in his presence.

"Thanks, Ginny, I'm fine," Shirou offered her a small smile.

"Doesn't look that way to me," she murmured. "What's on your mind? Hermione?"

He raised an eyebrow at her words. _She's sharper than I thought._

"I suppose," he shrugged and let out a sigh. It wasn't the entire problem, but she didn't need to know that.

"She tried to hide it, but I heard her crying last night. What happened?"

"My stupidity, I guess," Shirou said and managed to get a nervous chuckle from Ginny. At least it was less awkward than having her blush and stutter constantly around him.

"Doesn't explain much. But it does clarify something," she replied, now grinning. "Make sure to apologize to her, okay?"

Shirou hesitated. He wanted to agree with her and he knew that Hermione would probably forgive him if he apologized. But then again, wasn't this the perfect chance to lower the risk of him being discovered?

"What's wrong, Harry?" Ginny asked, looking at him suspiciously. "Are you not going to apologize to her? You two and Ron have been best friends for forever you know. I'm sure Hermione will..."

"That's not what I'm worrying about. Well, it is, but that's not all," Shirou interrupted her. Then he decided what to tell her. He knew that it was a bit low. But he couldn't just tell her the truth now, could he?

"You said that we were best friends," taking in a deep breath, he continued in a low voice while apologizing silently to the little red head. "But the thing is I don't remember it."

"Oh..." Realization dawned on Ginny's face as she took in his words. "I'm sorry. I kind of forgot."

"It's okay, really. Last night, I flinched away from Hermione when she tried to check if I have any injury. I'm not used to being touched suddenly, given my past. Well, maybe the old me had gotten familiar with her touch, but right now, I'm not. I can apologize, but what if it happen again? I can't guarantee that I can control it..."

"If you put it like that..." She murmured. "Still, I think you should at least talk to her. If you can't promise anything, at least make an effort to fix it."

"Suppose so," Shirou sighed deeply before unconsciously reaching up and petted Ginny's head. Just a moment later though, he retracted his hand, wondering why he did that. "Thanks, Ginny. To be honest, it doesn't sit right with me either."

"You...You're welcome," once again, Ginny returned to her stuttering and blushing mode. After that, silence fell on them as they walked side by side. After about ten minutes, the Burrow finally came into view. It was then that Ginny broke the silence once more.

"Harry," she called hesitantly and only continued after receiving a nod from Shirou. "I know it's late. And maybe it's pointless too if you don't remember anything, but… thank you, for saving me from the Basilisk in my first year. I've never said it properly, you know..."

"Eh...You are welcome?" Shirou replied, scratching his head. "Why now though?"

"Well, because Hermione has been telling me muster up my courage and talk to you already," Ginny giggled. "She said you wouldn't bite."

"Well, you never know," Shirou smirked.

"Exactly, so I'm trying to find out here."

They both chuckled. He then shook his head slowly.

"Seriously though, I couldn't recall it at all. But I've heard the tale from Hermione and Ron. The current me would still do it without a second thought."

"Thanks," Ginny looked up at him and smiled brightly. The pink spots on her cheeks were still present, but the heavy atmosphere between the two of them had been lifted somewhat.

The conversation ended there. The group finally arrived at the Burrow after awhile, where an anxious looking Molly was waiting for their return at the entrance. As soon as she saw them, the Weasley matriarch went over and started fussing over the kids before giving Arthur a passionate hug.

"Oh, I was so worried. Death Eaters, then the Dark Mark. I was so scared that something bad was going to happen to one of you..." She said after releasing her husband.

"We're okay, Molly," Arthur said and smiled tiredly. "The Death Eaters never reached our camp. They were stopped by someone right after showing up. That said, I and Percy still have to report in with the Ministry. They would need to use all the help they can get," he finished and kissed Molly's cheeks.

"You're going?" She asked. "What about breakfast?"

"Probably have to miss it. Sorry, dear. I'll come back as soon as I can."

Arthur and Percy then apparated away after saying goodbye to everybody. The latter still looked pale and refused to look at Shirou in the eyes, though he seemed tad better than the previous night.

"Alright, kids. Let's go inside. I've already prepared breakfast. After that you can go and get some more rest if you want," Molly told the children and they followed her without complain. Ron's stomach gave out a loud grumble as they entered the house, earning him a round of laughter from the rest of the group.

* * *

_**Death Eaters at Quidditch World Cup.**_

_Last night, at the Quidditch World Cup camp site, a group of no less than thirty people in Death Eater costume suddenly appeared and attacked the celebrating people. According to a witness, they marched out from the forest after mid night and started burning tents and breaking objects. There are even reports saying that the Cruciatus Curse was used in more than one occasion on the people who couldn't escape in time._

_Luckily, the offenders were stopped before any serious damage was done to the hostages. If our dear readers can remember an article from over a month ago about a strange archer stopping a fight in Diagon Alley, it could be that the very same person had appeared again and suppressed the group in Death Eater costume. This time, however, instead of just simply disable his opponents, he went straight for the kill._

"_I was being put under the Cruciatus Curse and suddenly it ended. After I had recovered enough to look up, the Death Eater attacking me was laying on the ground in his own pool of blood with an arrow through his head..." An anonymous witness said. Unfortunately, she became too emotional after this statement and we had to leave._

"_Those bloody bastards were torturing my son, right in front of me," another enraged witness told us. "I say it's a good thing that archer got rid of them, whoever he is. Stranger, you have my thanks if you are reading this."_

_There was no official report, and the Aurors refused to say anything on the matter. However, according to some witness, at least half of the offenders were killed in the conflict between them and the mysterious archer._

_Of course, his action wasn't welcomed by everyone._

"_He saved me, I don't deny that. But he also killed so many people. And it was so gruesome too. I've never seen anything so traumatic in my life," a female witness said._

"_Whoever that archer is, I can't accept what he had done, and I'm sure that the Ministry, especially the DMLE, agree with me too. It's the Aurors' job to protect the law, not some freak in a costume. I demand him to be captured as soon as possible," said Mister Lucius Malfoy in his speech in front of his manor._

_Personally, I have to admit that I'm also a little afraid of this archer. Is that really alright for a murderer running around like that, while Sirius Black is still out there? No matter what his intention is, killing so many people in cold blood is not a good sign. There is also rumors that he managed to escape from a dozen Aurors surrounding him after the Dark Mark went up. If he is as righteous as many people claim, why did he run? Besides, he was right under the Dark Mark. Could it be that he is actually a Death Eater, punishing those who pretend to be You-Know-Who's followers? _

…

_More about the Quidditch World Cup on page 2._

_What Minister Fudge has to say on the attack on page 3._

* * *

Putting down the newest issue of Daily Prophet on the ground, Shirou heaved out a big sigh. He was sitting in the orchard, trying to read the book that Hermione gave him on Harry's birthday when an owl arrived and delivered the afternoon newspaper. On the first page was a big picture of the Dark Mark floating in mid air. The article, typically, was mostly focused on the archer. Shirou had already expected that. Still, he couldn't help but grimace after reading it.

_Great, now I'm a criminal, _Shirou groaned and buried his head in both hands. There was nothing he could do about it though. Adam was right, once the war really broke out, Archer (he nicknamed himself) would become a hero. But right now, he was nothing but a vigilante.

That said, it would be a problem if last night's incident was allowed to repeat itself. He was too careless and let himself get surrounded. Besides, the condition of this body wasn't good enough to take part in a fight of that scale without risk. That meant more practice, of course.

Throwing the paper aside, Shirou reached for the book he brought with him and opened in on his laps. For the most part, his body had already healed, except for his arms. They were still a little bit numb, but nothing serious. It would take one more day or so for them to return to normal, so he didn't really worry about it.

Looking through the spells listed in the book, Shirou couldn't help but wonder about when Dumbledore was going to contact him, and would the Headmaster's substitute for a wand work. Last night would be so much easier with the help of some stunners and disarming charm. There were several more spells he wanted to try as well, such as tripping jinx or full body-bind curse, not to mention a pretty interesting one that made people's hair grow so fast that it could touch the floor in two seconds.

_Creative disable method, that, _Shirou chuckled at the description. That was when a surprised gasp from behind made him look up. This time he didn't flinch though, as he recognized the voice. True to his guess, Hermione was standing there with a book of her own. Her eyes were no longer red or puffy, but the sadness in them was obvious.

"Oh… Sorry. I didn't know you were here," looking downward, the bushy haired girl murmured and hastily turned around. She was about to walk away before Shirou stood up and said.

"Hermione, wait!"

She stopped abruptly on her track, but didn't turn around.

"Erm… Looks, I want to apologize..." Shirou stammered as he approached her from behind. _Damn, I have no experience in this._

"There's nothing for you to be sorry, Harry," Hermione replied in a soft, but flat voice. "I just assumed thing and touched your arm without permission..."

"Eh...Well, the thing is, I was being a git last night, okay? You didn't assume anything. I really...fell while I was running and injured my arm. Mister Greengrass healed it but it was still a little numb, you see. Can you please turn around? It's a little weird, talking like this."

This time she complied as well, but she still didn't look at him.

"Thanks. Anyway, you don't need permission to touch my arm, or anywhere for that matter," Shirou scratched his head. "Okay, that sounds wrong. But you get the picture..."

That actually earned him a chuckle and a small blush from Hermione. He sighed in relief.

"I know that, Harry, that you're not really...you right now. And I can't blame you for that," she said. "But it still hurts, you know, to have my best and first friend snapped away from me like that..."

"I'm sorry. I'll try to fix that."

"I'm sure you will," finally Hermione looked up and smiled. "I know, given your past with your relatives, that's an expected reaction. I'm just used to being close to you, I guess."

Shirou nodded. It was basically true, bar the 'relatives' part.

"Doesn't excuse me from being a git though," he shrugged. "So...Do you forgive me?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "It's kind of hard to be upset at you, to be honest."

"And it's hard to have you upset at me and do nothing," Shirou grinned feeling a big part of the weight in his chest vanished. "Well, since you're here already, feel free to have a seat and read, I have plenty," he motioned toward all the trees around them.

"I think I'll take that offer," said Hermione as she sat down next to where Shirou was earlier.

_Well, there's only Percy left. Oh, and Dumbledore. I wonder why I'm not as afraid of the old man as I am the other two, _he shrugged and sat down next to her.

"So, is your arm okay now?" Hermione asked.

"Pretty much, yeah," Shirou nodded and took a swing of his right arm. "A little numb, but most of the time I don't even notice it."

"That's good," she nodded and gently touched his arm, all the while checking his reaction. When Shirou didn't flinch away, she asked. "I saw you talking with Ginny this morning. What were you two talking about?" Then, as if realized what she'd just asked, Hermione quickly waved her hand. "Of course, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I didn't mean to pry."

"It's nothing really. She told me that I should apologize to you, and that since we're best friend, you're going to forgive me for sure. Now I know she was right, not that I doubted you anyway."

"Thanks," Hermione smiled. "That's all?"

"Well, she also thanked me for the Chamber of Secret fiasco," Shirou shrugged. "It's kind of weird being thanked about something you don't even remember…"

"I can see your point," she said understandingly. "Though I can see Ginny's as well. That was a very major event of her life, you know."

"I know, and I'm not complaining about her either. It's not an everyday thing to have your body possessed and a Basilisk tried to kill you."

"You're right. But don't mention that in front of her. I've been talking to her and I know how hard it is for her to talk about it."

"Don't worry. I'm not that insensitive," Shirou shrugged, but quickly added apologetically. "Okay, maybe I was toward you."

"And I've already forgiven you about that," she squatted his shoulder lightly. "Besides, it wasn't really your fault since you couldn't control it."

"Thanks, I guess," he smiled and turned his attention back to the book on his laps. "And thanks again for this. It's really helpful."

"You're welcome. I'm glad that you like it," Hermione smiled brightly.

For the rest of the afternoon, the two spent their time researching the book. Hermione tried to explain some of the more complex spells to Shirou and showed him the correct wand movements. He, on the other hand, found her knowledge very interesting and had been listening to her silently most of the time. They didn't return to the house until it was dinner time. Overall, it was a peaceful and relaxing afternoon for Shirou, except for a small part of his mind shouting at him that he was making a mistake by allowing her back closely to him. Shirou pushed the voice away though. He was enjoying Hermione's company, despite knowing that he was going to regret it later.

On their way back, they continued talking about some of Hogwarts' subjects. Generally, Shirou had completely forgotten about Percy, Dumbledore or his other persona's crime for a moment. That was why he was surprised to see the Headmaster waiting for him in the Burrow's living room with a grim expression on his face.

"Harry, I need to talk to you, privately," as soon as he saw the pair, Dumbledore stood up and said, the twinkling light in his eyes disappeared entirely.

**End of Chapter 9.**

** A random Guest: Well, the hostages could defend Shirou for saving them. But it still didn't change the fact that they had to report him of killing all those DE, and that made him a criminal, unless all of them agreed on saying that Shirou didn't kill anyone. All of those people all agreed on the same thing in such a short time is a little unbelievable, not to mention the crime is murder. Not everyone is sympathetic to that.**


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note: **_**I'm sorry for the long delay. I've just been moved from night shifts to day shifts at work, so less free time to write *sigh*. Chapter 11 will follow this one pretty soon though.**

**For my readers who also read "A New Destiny", I'm not really satisfied with the newest chapter that I wrote, so I postponed posting it for awhile. It will come though, for sure.**

**That's all for now. Enjoy.**

* * *

"Hermione."

No reply.

"Hermione."

Silence.

"Hermione!"

Hermione almost jumped up from her seat as she heard her name being called, causing the opened book on her lap fell to the ground. The bushy haired girl then looked around with startling eyes only to see Ron's frowning face staring at her.

"Wh...What?" She asked.

"I called you many times and you didn't reply. Why were you zoning out anyway?"

"Was I? Oh..." Hermione blushed a little while picking up her book. "I was just wondering what Professor Dumbledore wanted to talk with Harry about. He looked quite upset back there," she took another glance at the staircase where Harry and the Headmaster disappeared up to earlier. It had been fifteen minutes since they went up there. Hermione had taken a book to read in the living room but soon figured out that she couldn't concentrate at all.

"Yeah… What was that all about?" Ron murmured.

"No idea," Hermione replied still didn't take her eyes off the staircase. "When did professor Dumbledore get here?"

"Around half an hour?" Ron shrugged. "He wanted to talk to Harry, but when we didn't find him inside the house he told us he could wait," he then paused a little as if remembered something. "Where were you two by the way? You've disappeared almost the entire afternoon."

"We were by the orchard, reading," Hermione said, finally look at her red head friend.

"You had been _reading _the entire afternoon?" Ron asked, his eyes widened in horror before letting his shoulder slumped. "First you, and now Harry too..."

"Shush. You said it like it was a bad thing."

"But it is," he exclaimed loudly. "Okay, maybe not _that _bad. But you see, Harry wasn't like that before..."

Hermione shot him a good-natured glare but didn't say anything.

"Do you think Harry's in trouble?" She asked after awhile.

"Maybe Professor Dumbledore only wanted to make sure he's alright after...you know, last night," Ron answered. But just one look and Hermione could tell that he wasn't so sure of that himself.

"Still...It's a bit strange to talk in private just for that reason, no?" She commented, biting her lower lip. The two of them then kept on guessing the topic of the conversation between Harry and Dumbledore for a few more minutes before giving up. They could just ask Harry about it later. He would never hide anything like that from them after all.

The silence soon fell between them as Ron turned to play a game of chess against himself since Hermione declined his invitation. Even though it was close to dinner time, there wasn't anyone in the living room except for her and Ron as everyone wanted to wait for Harry before eating. Molly was in the kitchen, busy with preparing some last dishes. Hermione could hear Bill and Charlie chatting happily in there as well. Arthur and Percy still hadn't come back from work. Ginny and the twins on the other hand, were nowhere to be seen, assuming to be in their own rooms.

Bored out of her mind, Hermione was about to go to her room as well, maybe finding another, more interesting book to read to pass the time. However, just as she stood up, Ron's voice came from beside her.

"Hey, Hermione," he called, still looking at the chessboard in front of him.

"Yes?"

"Well, maybe it's stupid. But do you think Harry's being...different?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione raised an eyebrow, sitting back down. She had a pretty good guess about what Ron meant though.

"You see, he's acting differently," the red head turned to look at her, scratching his head. He then sighed. "Oh, never mind, I was just being silly."

"No you weren't," she said quickly. "I noticed it too. Hard not to, actually."

"Really?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded and gave Ron a smile. It quickly turned into a frown though. "Well, I mean, he's bound to be different somehow. After… After what happened… He doesn't remember us, so we can't expect him to behave normally around us, right?"

"I know as much, Hermione," Ron shook his head. "It's just, something is off about Harry. I know you think it's a good thing, but can you imagine the old Harry spends most of his time reading? About pureblood no less."

Hermione stared at her friend in surprise for a moment. She was well aware that, but didn't think that Ron would be able to pick it up. On the other hand, she agreed with him on that point. It was true that Harry had amnesia, but according to him, it only erased the memories of his time at Hogwarts. That meant he remembered his upbringing and his early life before finding out he was a wizard. However, the Harry upstairs talking to Dumbledore and the Harry she met almost four years ago were somehow different.

_Can he really change that much? _She couldn't help but asked herself.

"Not only that," Ron continued. "There's also Quidditch. It's like he didn't enjoy the game all that much anymore, both when we were playing together and at the World Cup..."

"He cheered pretty hard back there," Hermione pointed out.

"That's true. Still, the old Harry would be much more… excited," he shrugged. "I know how he was when it comes to that game."

"Maybe," Hermione sighed heavily. "But I don't blame him. It must be hard for him trying to keep up."

"I know," once again, Ron turned back to his chessboard, poking his Knight with a finger. "I know he would be different. I just didn't imagine that he would be this… distant. You've just arrived so you didn't see it, but it's like all he ever does these days is read. He prefers being alone most of the time too. And not to mention him being all friendly with the Slytherins..."

Understanding dawned on Hermione. So _that _was why Ron wanted to have this talk. He rarely talked about these kinds of topic after all. He was afraid that the current Harry wouldn't want to hang out with him anymore since he didn't remember him.

"Oh Ron," Hermione smiled and put her hand on Ron's shoulder. "I know it hard since he's your best mate and all, but give Harry time, okay? We don't know how he's suffering because of the amnesia. Imagine not being able to remember anything good about your life, only the horrible things, how would you feel?"

"That's… I would be miserable," Ron murmured.

"Me too. And I'm sure so is Harry," Hermione nodded firmly. "For now, let's just help him getting over whatever he is feeling, okay? Let him know that we're still here, as his friends. He will open up to us soon, and we will be close just like before."

The red head grunted in agreement but didn't say anything anymore. Despite what she told her friend, Hermione herself wasn't feeling very confident about her statement. What she said about them being close again was to assure her as much as it did Ron. She didn't deny that in just a few hours earlier, Harry had opened up to her much more than before. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that he just did it because he was feeling guilty about brushing her off last night.

Before any other comment was made, a sound from the stairs made both her and Ron turned around and saw Harry walking into the living room. He looked tired, and a little annoyed as he ran his fingers through his messy black hair.

"Harry, is everything okay?" Hermione asked, but Harry just shrugged. Dumbledore chose that moment to walk in as well.

"I'm sorry for taking up your time," the Headmaster bowed his head slightly. "It's getting late so I'll just show myself out. See you all at Hogwarts."

"Professor, you're not staying for dinner?" Hearing his voice, Molly quickly made her way out from the kitchen. "Please stay, we have everything prepared."

"As tempting as your cooking was, dear Molly, I'm afraid that I have to decline this time. All kind of papers is piling up on my desk back at Hogwarts, and I have to finish them before school starts."

"Oh, alright. Don't let me keep you then," Molly looked a littler disappointed but perked up immediately. "Maybe next time."

"Maybe next time," Dumbledore smiled. "Well, goodbye, everybody."

With that, the ancient wizard turned around and exited the house after giving Harry a quick nod, to which the boy returned stiffly. It was clear that whatever the two of them talked about wasn't very pleasant.

_Yet another difference, _Hermione thought as she observed Harry, her eyes squinted. Never before had she seen Harry being upset with the Headmaster. Although she had to admit that their contact wasn't all that frequently to begin with.

"Well, Harry's here, let's come in for dinner," Molly told the kids as she took a glance at her family's special clock. "It didn't look like Arthur and Percy will come home anytime soon, and I'm sure you're all hungry already. Come in. I'll go get Ginny and the twins."

The trio complied without question. Hermione tried to ask Harry about his conversation with the Headmaster, but the boy keep telling her that it was nothing, making her feel hurt and no less worried for him.

* * *

Around midnight, Shirou was lying on his bed, hearing Ron's snore on the bed next to his while thinking over his day. He had to admit that the afternoon spent with Hermione was quite enjoyable. But that kind of event shouldn't be allowed to happen again.

_Well, not too often, at least, _he thought, convincing himself by thinking that it would just make Harry's two friends become suspicious if he suddenly kept them at arm's length.

He also noticed that the way he acted around the girl after his talk with Dumbledore could raise a red flag as well. But frankly at the time, he was a bit too annoyed by the Headmaster to care about his grand plan, which including Shirou playing the role of Harry Potter.

_Why did I agree to keep up this charade? _He wondered. At first, the reasons Dumbledore gave him sounded quite convincing. But the more Shirou thought about it, the more faults he found within the wizard's plan for him. Sooner or later, the truth was gonna be out of the bag. And with how things were going, he had little doubt that it would be sooner rather than later. Especially now, when the transformation had already started, Shirou could no longer hide himself behind the illusion that it would be a long time until anyone noticed anything. He was seriously considering to tell Dumbledore that he wanted to stop acting as the 'Chosen One' any longer. At least by then, he would be able to act against Voldemort freely, maybe teaming up with Adam Greengrass's strange group, or doing things on his own. Anything was better than to be tied into a double life. Not to mention it would be much harder to act once he returned to Hogwarts, under Dumbledore's constant surveillance.

But right then, the images of Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys came into his head. If Shirou were to be honest with himself, he had become somewhat closer to them during his time at the Burrow. And they were the reason that he couldn't bring himself to reveal the true fate of Harry Potter. Shirou knew that he wouldn't be able to stand seeing them broke down before the cruel truth.

_Don't be stupid. They're going to figure out anyway, _another voice in his head told him. As if Shirou needed any reminder. He knew fully well about that fact, but still couldn't bring himself to drop the disguise. At this point, all he could do was to blame Dumbledore for talking him into this when he still didn't have much knowledge of this world, and arranged him to live with the Weasleys. That old man knew that he would grow to like them, thus making him unable to go against their original plan. Though to be fair, at least half of the blame rested on Shirou himself as well, to agree to follow Dumbledore's word without enough information.

_I should be more careful than that, _he lamented, breathing out in frustration. It didn't help that Shirou had already been annoyed since his earlier meeting with the Headmaster.

At first, given what he'd heard about Dumbledore's way of war, he had expected to be given a lecture about unnecessary killing or something along the line. To his surprise, while the topic did come up, it was quite brief. After confirming Shirou's involvement during the raid, the ancient wizard just told him to be careful not to blow his cover.

Shirou couldn't help but wonder what was going on. That behavior was totally out of place compared to what he'd heard about Dumbledore – Leader of the Light. Unless, of course, Adam Greengrass was only saying that about the Headmaster in order to pull Shirou over to his side. However, when thinking along those lines, there was also a chance that it was Dumbledore who was acting. Shirou wasn't stupid. He knew that the Headmaster knew about Adam's sudden interest in 'Harry Potter'. Was he just doing that to keep Shirou within his control?

_The question now is "Which one is lying? Dumbledore or Adam?"_ Shirou frowned. Why couldn't they work together toward a common enemy? Was that simply because of the clash in their ways, or it was something else?

Feeling the incoming headache, Shirou decided to temporarily drop the subject. He had too little information about both sides to make a precise decision. He had been talked into doing something he didn't like due to the lack of knowledge before, it wouldn't happen again.

As frustrating as it was, that wasn't the immediate issue. Also during their meeting, Dumbledore had informed him that there was still little progress on finding him a suitable wand. The 'wand-blade' as he called it, wasn't easy to get a hand on, since they were quite rare. Only a handful number of them was now in the Goblins' possession. According to the Headmaster, those blades could be used to channel magic just like a wand, technically. The problem was that it wasn't compatible with human, thus to a wizard or witch, it was no better than a fruit knife. It would be suspicious if a human suddenly took interest in and wanted to buy one of those.

_But without it, my disguise is screwed, _thought Shirou as he let out a weary sigh. At this point, he didn't even know if he really cared for that damned play anymore. If It wasn't for the Weasleys and Hermione…

"Knock. Knock."

A knocking sound from the bedroom window interrupted Shirou's thought. He instantly sat upright, Bakuya already in his left hand, concealed from view as his reinforced sight making out Ron's sleeping form. The red head was still out cold. Shirou then took a glance toward the window, only to see a familiar owl, the one belong to the Greengrasses.

Slowly got off his bed, he made his way toward the window and opened It. The owl quietly flew in and landed on the desk, putting out its leg with the letter. Shirou quickly release it of the burden. Without waiting for an answer, the owl immediately took off again.

_Let's see what made Adam contact me at this unearthly hour, _thought Shirou as he vanished Bakuya, sat down and opened the letter. There were two parchments inside. The first one contained a list of name, nineteen names, which he concluded to be the name of the killed Death Eaters. They were all unfamiliar to Shirou, except for the two named 'Goyle' and 'Nott', which belonged to the more 'respectable' families that he'd read about. Next to Nott's name, there was a note that said 'Inner Circle'. While Shirou didn't know what that meant, he could guess that he killed at least one high ranking Death Eater the previous night.

Taking a quick look at the list one more time, he then folded the parchment and pocketed it, intending to destroy it as soon as possible, before taking out the second one. This time, it was a letter from Adam Greengrass.

_Harry,_

_First of all, please burn both parchments as soon as you finished reading them._

Shirou grinned at that. It was exactly what he planned to do anyway.

_On the other one, I've send you a list of the Death Eaters that you killed last night. I know I said it before, but good job, especially in eliminating Nott. I have no word to describe how twisted and ruthless that bastard was._

_Now to the serious business, I'm regret to know that the 'Daily Prophet' has portrayed you no better than a criminal in their article. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the trouble. It seems like our buddy Jones, or at least the one representing him at the moment, had taken interest in your action last night. What his true intention is, I do not know. However, it would be wise to expect retribution from them and act accodingly. Keep your guard up and your wit about. As much as I hate to admit it, they are a dangerous bunch to get tangled up with._

_Be careful._

_Adam Greengrass._

Shirou couldn't keep the deep frown from showing on his face as he read the letter. He had expected his actions to attract the Death Eaters' attention, but the warning had made his situation much more real.

Shaking his head to clear the rest of his sleepiness, Shirou then pocketed the letter and silently made his way downstairs, intending to throw both parchments into the fireplace. However, as soon as his feet touched the first floor, he stopped dead in his track as he saw someone sitting in the living room. That person appeared to be reading a thick book and wasn't aware of the newcomer.

"Good morning. Or is it too early?" Shirou greeted, making the other person turn around, revealing a surprised Percy Weasley. It took the red haired man a moment to gather himself before asking.

"What are you doing here at this time?" He growled, averting his eyes. The discomfort showed clearly on his face.

"Getting some water?" Shirou shrugged. "You?"

"Working," Percy simply replied. "But I think I will go to bed now, and you should too."

With that, he hastily stood up and made his way toward the stairs, all the while avoid looking at the boy in front of him. Shirou didn't stop him. But he finally said as Percy was midway up to the second floor.

"It wasn't your fault, you know. It was mine for going out that night."

The man paused but didn't say anything. Shirou couldn't see his expression either as their backs were facing each other's. A long, uncomfortable moment of silence passed between them before Percy resumed his walk up to his room, leaving Shirou alone.

_Well, it's something, _he massaged his forehead. Percy was a proud man. It would take time for him to open up and get over his guilty feeling.

To avoid any further interruption, Shirou quickly walked over to the fireplace and tossed the parchments inside his pocket into the flame. He stood and watched them gradually burned away before getting himself a cup of water and coming back to his room. He would need a few hours of sleep before getting up for practice tomorrow. Unfortunately, the warning words were still ringing in his head. Shirou had no doubt that sleep wouldn't come easily to him tonight.

* * *

The rest of the summer passed away peacefully, except for a couple of occasions where the twins almost blew up the Burrow along with their room, which earned some harsh and ear-bursting scolding from a raging Molly. As the day went by, Shirou gradually let the thought about Adam's warning slip from his mind. And before he knew it, it was the day for them to return to Hogwarts for a new school year.

"Ron! Get your lazy bum down here this instant or we are going to be late!" Shirou massaged his forehead and let out a sigh as Molly's voice carried out from inside the house. If his memory served him right, the Weasley matriarch had started urging her children to pack their belonging since two days ago. It was completely beyond Shirou to understand just why there were only him and Hermione standing here with their luggage all ready at the appointed time. The twins and Ginny joined them shortly after. But it appeared that Ron still hadn't packed his necessary things at all.

"Maybe it's my fault too, for not telling him to pack last night, or the one before that as well," Shirou groaned as he hid his face behind his hand.

"Nonsense," Fred cut him off happily. "And I doubt that he would've listened anyway."

"That, and you have to understand that this is also a kind of Weasleys' tradition," George added while nodding his head. "I can't remember a single year that something like this didn't happen. Last year it was Ginny, right? You didn't remember that you forgot something until we were already halfway to the station."

"And there I thought that we would be able to get there on time for a change," Fred sighed dramatically as Ginny glared at him and his twin brother.

"That's nothing to be proud of," Hermione exclaimed, but she herself was smiling as well. Before anyone was able to answer though, a red faced and incredibly annoyed Ron rushed through the front door, dragging behind him his trunk, which still had a piece of his clothing dangled outside of the lid. Followed him closely was Molly, looking totally displeased, but since they were running late, she decided not to make a fuss out of her youngest son.

"Are we all ready? Good, Let's go," the Weasley matriarch nodded as her eyes swept across the kids before ushering them toward the car parked on the road in front of the Burrow. As they were all properly seated and the car started to move, Shirou took a last glance at the house that he stayed at during the last few months. A few second later though, he turned his gaze away and shook his head slowly. No matter how fondly he thought of the place, it was most likely that he wouldn't be returning there again.

* * *

"Is it just me or it's more crowded here than before?" Ron complained as their group carried their trunks through the Hogwarts Express's hallway, trying to find an empty compartment. As soon as They boarded the train, Fred, George and Ginny all begged off to spend time with their own friends, leaving the other three to fend for themselves.

"I don't know," Hermione looked around hesitantly. "Well, let's just get to the back of the train. I'm sure we will find empty compartment there."

And they did. It seemed like most of the students were content with sitting at the front with their friends instead of traveling all the way back. It suited Shirou just fine though, he didn't mind a little walk to be alone, or almost so anyway. He hadn't even thought about it, but it was clear from the moment he stepped inside the platform that the students' stares toward him were even worse than the end of last year. It didn't get any better on the train. Anywhere he went, people just secretly glanced, or even downright gawked at him and whispered between themselves.

"I'm so glad we made it here," Shirou sighed as he flopped onto one of the seats in their chosen compartment. "I tried not to notice it but the attention is…"

"Not to say I really understand, but I think you will get used to it," Hermione smiled encouragingly and sat down next to him.

"Yeah mate," Ron nodded. "You did it once after all."

"And what a miracle that was, Shirou shook his head and pulled out another book. This time it was about some transfiguration technique. He saw the book on his last trip to Diagon Alley and was interested in comparing how this world's Transfiguration was different from his own Alteration. Just as Shirou laid his eyes on the first page though, his memory came back to remind him that he still didn't have a proper wand yet. According to Dumbledore during his visit two days ago, his quest to obtain the 'wand-blade' was still fruitless.

* * *

_**Two days ago.**_

"_Things didn't go well, I take it?" Asked Shirou as he sat across from the aged Headmaster inside his and Ron's room._

"_I wish I could say otherwise," Dumbledore replied wearily. "I'm pulling every string I can to obtain that blade for you, but it's progressing too slowly for my liking."_

"_They're unwilling to part with it?" Shirou frowned._

"_You can say that. They want to know why I want it, amongst other things."_

"_Why not just tell them?" He asked. "It's not like we are going to keep it a secret or anything."_

"_We can't," Dumbledore shook his head. "If only it's that simple. I have no problem with everyone knowing once the blade is in our possession. Since we've already paid for it, it's ours. But before that, they can use that information to demand more and more before selling it to us. That's only if they ever will. Dealing with goblins isn't a pleasant business."_

"_So I gathered," said Shirou, leaning back against his chair. "You know I can do well enough without a wand."_

"_But Harry Potter can't."_

"_Yeah… About that, I'm starting to wonder if it's truly necessary."_

"_Shirou… I believe I've explain the reason..." Dumbledore frowned._

"_I remember," Shirou shook his head. "It's just that we're walking a thin line here, Albus. How long do you expect me to keep this up?"_

_They then fell silent and just staring at each other. Shirou's determined eyes with a hint of anger behind locked into Dumbledore's, which were full of sadness. They sat there just like that for several seconds before Shirou broke the silence._

"_Well?" He asked._

"_I'd like to say 'until the war is over', but it's not possible I assume?" Dumbledore said._

"_What gave it away?" Shirou snorted dryly but the Headmaster ignored his comment._

"_Please, just give this old man a little more time," in the end, he said. "We can't afford to lose Harry Potter now. Many things are happening right now, and not all of them is good. You can see for yourself, Shirou. All the fights happening lately, and the raid at the World Cup..."_

"_That might be the case, but when do you assume, is the suitable time to reveal to the people that their savior, their symbol, is dead? The answer is none. The sooner the better, Albus."_

"_Perhaps you're right," Dumbledore sighed. "But please, just a little longer. With the way things are going now, we can't risk anything. Give me a couple of months, I'll try to build a strong enough foundation to help us with the upcoming threat before we bust the bubble."_

_Shirou started thinking the wizard's words over. A couple of months, he could manage that. That might also be just enough time for him to get away before his transformation starting to show most of Shirou Emiya's features too, given the rate it was happening. It'd barely been a month since it started and his white hairs were already visible enough for others to notice. They've questioned him a few times about it but he was able to brush it off. After all it wasn't that uncommon to have your hair go white at a young age. However, any further change like his skin tone, or his eyes color, and it would be impossible to explain, not that having a completely white head is any easier in that regard. _

_Also, even though he was honestly surprised by how easy it was to get through with Dumbledore, he was pleased nevertheless. He wasn't all that good with all this acting stuff and would be much more effective on the battlefield than in a school pretending to be a kid._

"_I think I can live with that," finally Shirou nodded. "But are you really going to tell them when the time comes? Just like that? Harry Potter is dead?"_

"_We will cross that bridge when we have to," Dumbledore said firmly. "But I think we can arrange for an 'accident'..."_

"_I guess that could work..." Shirou pondered._

"_But how about the Weasleys? And Miss Granger?" The Headmaster suddenly asked._

"_What about them?"_

"_Are you going to… tell them the truth?"_

"_And for what reason should I do something like that?" Shirou narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what the wizard was getting at._

"_I just thought you've got quite close to them..."_

"_Yes, thanks to you," He growled. "But no matter. You're right, I care about them, enough to not break them any further than I have to."_

"_I see," Dumbledore nodded. "I'll respect your decision then, but I advise you to consider the consequences. Now for your wand, just use your old one for the time being. It will buy us some more time."_

"_But..."_

"_You can't cast spells with it, yes. But on the other hand, no one expects the students to succeed during a couple of first lessons during classes, so they won't suspect it if you can't make the spells work. It should get us one more week or so. I'll try my best to obtain that blade for you."_

"_I guess it will have to do for now," Shirou sighed, massaging his forehead. "Though if you can arrange your 'accident' a little sooner then we wouldn't need that blade after all."_

"_If only it were that easy," said Dumbledore wearily as he stood up and started undoing all the privacy charms. "I will see you later, Shirou."_

* * *

And so, Shirou was now having Harry's wand tucked away inside his trunk. He'd heard that wizards and witches should have their wands on their person at all time, but he doubted following that advice was going to do him any good since that piece of wood was no better than a fancy chopstick to him at the moment.

"Harry, what do you think?" Ron's voice immediately snapped Shirou out of his thought. It was then he realized that he was too caught up in it and hadn't done any reading at all.

"I'm sorry, what?" He asked.

"Did you even pay attention to us at all?" Ron frowned. "Anyway, we are talking about that super secret event at Hogwarts that Bill hinted us before he and Charlie left."

"Oh..." Shirou's eyes widened as he recalled that particular conversation with the eldest Weasley son. "The one that him, Charlie, Percy, your dad, and even your mum know about but they refused to tell us?" He asked, grinning. Apparently, it had caused quite a commotion at the Burrow ever since it was revealed. The ones who knew tried their best to keep the secret but obviously also going out of their way to build up the curiosity amongst the children, while the children did everything within their ability to figure out just what was being hidden. Unfortunately, even the infamous Weasley twins weren't able to find out anything on the matter. Shirou personally didn't really care, though he would admit to be a little curious as well if asked.

"Yes, that's the one," Ron nodded. "We've been trying to guess what it's going to be. So?"

"Isn't that what you've been doing all the way since Bill told us?" Shirou complained as he glanced at Hermione, who in turn shrugged and gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Well, I was just trying to kill some time," Ron replied sulkily and leaned back on his seat. "It's not like we have anything better to do. As soon as we got here you just grabbed your book and Hermione didn't want to play chess or Exploding Snap with me."

"You know, you could re..." Hermione perked up. However, before she was able to finish her sentence, Ron hastily held up his hand and interrupted.

"Don't even suggest that," he said pointedly before sighing. "Well, I guess it couldn't be helped. I'll just take a nap. Wake me up when the food cart comes."

"Sure, Ron," Shirou nodded before turning back to his book. Next to him, Hermione pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet as well.

"I got it this morning," she explained. "But since everything was so frantic..." she glared at the sleeping Ron on the opposite couch. "...I wasn't able to read it at all."

"Anything interesting?" Shirou asked, not really care for the answer. His eyes were still wandering the transfiguration book. A small "Uh huh" next to him indicate that Hermione didn't find anything worth mentioning. For several minutes, they just sat side by side, reading in silence. Shirou rather enjoyed it, no attention, no question, no useless chit chat, just comfortable companionship.

Unfortunately the peaceful moment didn't last long. It wasn't long before Shirou had to take his eyes off of his book because of a murmured "Oh Merlin..." from the girl next to him. He turned to look at her only to see her staring at the newspaper, wide-eyed, her face paled a little.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Shirou asked, getting closer to take a peek at what she was reading.

"It's...horrible," she stuttered, shaking her head and gave him the paper. "Someone...committed suicide, at the Ministry, no less. Here, you can read it."

Shirou raised an eyebrow and took it from her. He located said article right away and started reading. Apparently, whoever managed the Prophet had deemed the news to be not very important and only gave it a small corner on the third page. According to what was written, during the rush hours the previous morning, an Auror named Blake Burton flooed into the Ministry and used a Cutting Curse on his own neck in front of all those people, followed by some statements by the Minister that Shirou didn't bother to read.

_This is odd, _he frowned deeply. Anyone with a teaspoon of wit could tell that it wasn't a simple suicide. Why made it public? Also, the article was too vague, no in-depth detail was provided. Did the man say anything? What did he look like? Was there anything off about him at all? What's the motive behind his suicidal action? Normally they would report some interviews with the man's close friends or family members at least. But this time, nothing. Shirou couldn't help but feel that something was very wrong here.

"Harry…?" Hermione's voice pulled him out of his train of thoughts. She was looking at him with worried eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Shirou replied and folded the newspaper. The questions were still ringing in his mind with no definite answer. He would have to talk to Adam about this, to get the man's perception about this whole thing. Dumbledore was also an option, but Shirou didn't really trust him. To be fair, he didn't trust the Greengrass man either, but for the moment they shared a deeper connection than him and the Headmaster.

"You looked like you were really upset about that article," Hermione asked, still not taking her eyes off of him.

"Not really," Shirou answered. "It's just...weird."

"Weird?"

"Yeah… Something didn't add up..." he mumbled before getting up abruptly, startling the bushy haired girl as she let out a small yelp.

"Sorry," Shirou quickly apologized. "I just need to send a letter."

Before waiting for a reply, reached into his trunk, taking out a piece of parchment and a pen and left the compartment, intending to get into a bathroom stall to write his letter without being seen. As soon as he stepped out to the hallway, the stare and whispering instantly started up again. Shirou didn't get far though, as he was too absorbed into his own world, he didn't notice and bumped into a girl going toward him.

"Ow!" The girl let out a pained yelp as she fell and landed on her bum.

"Oh… I'm sorry. You okay?" Shirou hastily said and offered his hand, only for it to be blasted away by the girl as she slowly stood up by herself. It was only then he recognized her – Daphne Greengrass.

"Gree..." Shirou opened his mouth again and was about to greet her, only to froze instantly as he saw the glare she was giving him. She was unfriendly before, yes, but this was an entirely different level. Her gaze were cold as ice and held no emotion, not even hatred. In fact, she looked like a doll, a glaring one admittedly, for the lack of better word.

Without saying a word or even showing any more sign of acknowledging him, Daphne instantly took off again and was soon out of sight.

_What was that? _Shirou wondered as his eyes followed her movement. He didn't have time to think it through though, since people had started to gather around and it was getting uncomfortable. He walked as fast as he could without running until he reached the nearest bathroom. However, as it turned out, he didn't even need to write his letter.

Closing his stall door shut, Shirou reached into his pocket to took out his piece of parchment, only to find another one in there as well. It was folded neatly, and was obviously slipped in there while he wasn't playing attention. Now that he thought about it, maybe bumping into Daphne Greengrass wasn't an accident after all.

Checking one last time to be sure that he was completely alone, Shirou opened the letter for him. There was only some words written in it.

_Midnight, Gryffindor fireplace. Discard this as soon as you're done reading._

_A.G_

For a second, Shirou just stood there and stare at the letter. A grin then started to form on his face.

_That guy, he's always a step ahead of me, _Shirou thought in amusement as he started tearing the parchment into small pieces, dumping them all down the toilet and flushed. _A meeting is in order then. Even better than what I was about to do._

**End of Chapter 10.**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's note: **_**Over 200 reviews. Thank you very much for your support.**

**And especially thank you, Server lock, for your input. It would be interesting to make up an explanation on how wand-blade work.**

**That's all for now, enjoy :D.**

* * *

"Well, if it isn't our famous scar-head. Or is it empty-head now?" A drawled voice came from behind just as Shirou was on his way back to his compartment. It sounded vaguely familiar, but at the moment, Shirou couldn't remember who it belonged to.

Not until he turned around.

"Oh…" Realization dawned on him as he saw a boy with a haughty smirk across his face and well cared blond hair, too well cared in fact. And to finish the combo, there were also two ape-like guardians on both side of him.

"You are..." Shirou hesitated, trying to recall the boy's name. "McCoy something...right?"

"It's Malfoy," the blond growled, his face reddened a little as he shot dirty glare at Shirou. "Draco Malfoy. Did the Dementors affect your short term memory too?"

"Eh… right," Shirou scratched his head while giving Malfoy a somewhat embarrassed smile. "Sorry. It's been awhile since we last met."

Malfoy didn't say anything and just kept staring at him with narrowed eyes. After awhile, the blond sneered.

"So you're saying I didn't left any impression on you? Never mind, you've become boring, Potter. I was just going to tease you Weasel about the upcoming tournament at Hogwarts. I've lost my interest."

"What do you mean? Tournament?" Shirou raised an eyebrow.

Malfoy had already turned away , but stopped dead on his track after hearing the question. Slowly, he turned around and smirked triumphantly.

"Curious, aren't we?"

"It would be a lie to say no. So, yes," Shirou shrugged. The smile on the blond's face grew a little wider as he turned his voice back to the drawling tone.

"You mean you really don't know about it? Isn't Weasel's father and brother work at the Ministry? My father told me about it ages ago."

"They said it was supposed to be a secret and all," Shirou replied simply. He also noticed Malfoy's subtle surprise when he didn't react to him calling his friend names. On the other hand, what was he supposed to do about it? React to it too strongly would only please the blond even further and encouraging his insults. Just like earlier, let it pass and he would lose interest. After all, he was just trying to get a rise out of them. Typical.

"Of course it is, you daft," Malfoy snickered, apparently taking pleasure in feeling superior over Shirou. "But that's pureblood kids' privilege, no? We are allowed to know things that normal kids aren't. That is, of course, if Weasel's parents aren't trying to keep up the all important and secret face. Or is it just because they aren't important enough to know the details, eh?"

Shirou just answered with a noncommittal shrug without saying anything. He wasn't annoyed, though the conversation was become a little tiring with Malfoy not willing to get straight to the point.

"Of course, my parents aren't like that. My father is also a very close friend with the Minister himself. And he doesn't hesitate to share that kind of information with me..." The blond's speech just went on and on, but Shirou had managed to tuned most of it out. After three minutes or so, it was finally finished.

"Right," Shirou nodded, not really aware of what was said. "So can you please tell me what the tournament is about?"

"Oh…? Is the famous Harry Potter asking me a favor?" Malfoy smirked again.

"Well, if you aren't going to tell me..." With another shrug, Shirou turned away.

"Wait," the blond hastily called. "I will tell you. But you own me one."

"I won't do your homework, McCoy," he replied without turning around.

"Like I need you to. And it's Malfoy," Malfoy huffed, obviously didn't notice himself being called that intentionally. "Your grades aren't all _that _good, empty-head. Just remember that you own me a favor. Don't worry, I won't ask anything impossible. I know how your kind is. Geez, Gryffindors..." The last word was spoken like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

After taking a few seconds to consider the offer, Shirou turned on his heels again. "Fine. But I'll refuse if you ask something improper."

"Considering there's no contract or anything. You can just walk away from it if you want," Malfoy shrugged. But his eyes soon shined with mischief as he smiled. "If your pride allows it, of course."

_It must feel good, having Harry Potter owe you something, _Shirou sighed inwardly. "Alright, just tell me already."

"This year, the Triwizard Tournament is going to be held at Hogwarts," the blond said dramatically, only to be ruined by a confused Shirou.

"I'm sorry, the Tri- what?"

"Triwizard! Oh well, I suppose it's understandable that you didn't know about it, given your...upbringing. It's an old competition between three magical school: Hogwarts, Dumstrang and Beauxbatons. You can look up the details yourself. After all, you have a mobile library hanging around you all the time, yes? Well, I've waste enough of my time here. Let's go, Crabbe, Goyle."

The blond then walked away, followed by his two henchmen, who were clearly confused. But Shirou thought that he'd just imagined it. Those two were always confused, seeing how dumb they were.

* * *

"For the last time, Ron. I intended to send that letter to Padfoot but ended up not to," Shirou groaned, rubbing his tempers as he followed Ron and Hermione into one of the carriages to Hogwarts.

"Fine," the red head grunted. "So what about Malfoy?"

"What about him?"

"Oh, I don't know? Rumor had it you two had a quite pleasant conversation in the hallway, no?"

"Oh Merlin..." Shirou sighed wearily. He glanced at Hermione and saw her looking at him rather weirdly too.

"You told me to be more accepting toward those...snakes. Fine, I can try to stand Greengrass and Davis, but Malfoy, really? Don't tell me you're going to befriend him too."

"Listen," Shirou held up his hand. "I don't know what yours, and any other's definition of 'pleasant' is. But that talk with Malfoy certainly was not. It was civil, polite, but not pleasant."

"But why do you have to be polite with _him_, of all people. He always goes out of his way to insult us, especially Hermione. He's been at odd with us since first year."

"Which I don't remember, Ron," Shirou stated calmly, looking straight into the red head's eyes, making him back down a little. That was low, yes, but he'd grown a bit tired of the childish rivalry.

"That's… Fine!" With a final angry huff, Ron turned away, looking out of the window without saying anything.

Shirou sighed again. He had intended to share the information about the Triwizard Tournament with the other two. But the recent conversation had made him lose any intention of doing so. He was just not in the mood anymore. Fortunately, to avoid having any further inquiry from a much more intelligent Hermione, Ginny chose that time to open the carriage door and peek in.

"I'm sorry," she said with an apologetic smile. "Can I and my friend sit here? All the other places are full."

"Sure, Ginny," Hermione smiled. "Come on in."

Brightening up rather quickly, the youngest Weasley climbed in and sat next to her sulking brother, giving him a curious look but decided not to say anything, yet. Following her closely was another girl with dirty blond hair and gray eyes. She looked...odd, from Shirou's view. The girl had her wand tucked behind her ear and was wearing a necklace made of butterbeer caps. And most of all, she looked so...dreamy. Her eyes unfocused, which suddenly turned to look at him, making him feel a shiver down his spine.

"This is Luna Lovegood," Ginny introduced. "Ravenclaw, my year. We live rather near each other too. Her family is just on the other side of the hill. Luna, this sulking creature over here is my brother, Ron, but you've already known that," she pointed to the red head. "That's Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."

"It's nice to meet you, Luna," Hermione said pleasantly. However, the other girl only gave her a nod back while continue to stare at Shirou. He held her gaze but had to admit that it was a little unnerving. Unlike the stare he received from other student, it was different, more calculating and there was no little amount of curiosity in there as well.

"You are Harry Potter?" In the end, she asked with a dreamy voice.

"Yes," Shirou nodded. "It's nice to meet you, Luna."

"Are you really Harry Potter?" She asked again. Her eyes narrowed a little. Luna looked perfectly innocent in her gestures, but something inside Shirou telling him that she was dangerous, not to him personally, but to the entire Harry Potter thing.

_No way. I must be imagining it, _slowly, he shook his head and force himself to give her a smile. "Of course. Who else can I be? See the scar?" He pointed playfully to his forehead.

"Hm… Okay," after a few seconds of even more staring, Luna finally shrugged and leaned back, pulling out one of the newspaper and started reading it upside down. Next to Shirou, Hermione was looking at her with apparent disapproving look in her eyes.

"Well, now that's over with, what happened here?" Ginny asked. "Why is my brother throwing a fit?"

"I'm _not _throwing a fit!" Ron's muffled voice came from his seat next to the window.

"Not from what I see," his sister pressed on mercilessly. "So?"

"Ron's mad that Harry's become friendly with Malfoy," finally, Hermione supplied.

"For real?" Ginny's eyes widened as she looked at Shirou, who was now hiding his face in his hand. "You… You mean Draco Malfoy, right? Are we talking about the same Malfoy?"

"First, yes, it was Draco Malfoy," Shirou groaned. "And second, I was _not _being friendly with him. It was being polite, people. Polite."

"But...But… a Gryffindor, especially you, being polite with that prat is practically screaming 'friendly' all over places, Harry. You two couldn't even stand each other's presence before."

"Told you," Ron commented from his hiding place and Hermione nodded in approval. Luna on the other hand, still reading her paper without caring for all the excitement going on around her.

"I… Ugh… Just think whatever you want to. I'm not trying to befriend him, and that's final," Shirou said, throwing his hands in the air. No one replied after that and the rest of the trip passed with everyone drowned in an uncomfortable silence. Everyone, except Luna. That girl looked like she was able to be at ease every time and everywhere.

* * *

"Look, I'm sorry. I just couldn't understand why you guys made such a big deal out of me talking with Malfoy," Shirou said as the trio sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

"It's okay, Harry," Hermione smiled, albeit somewhat forced. "You are confused... It's just strange, you know."

"Okay," with a final look at the girl, Shirou turned his eyes toward the teacher's table, looking at no one in particular. He'd sensed the distance between him and the others widened just by a simple conversation with McCoy.

_Maybe it's for the best, _he reassured himself. _I will just be here for a couple of months after all, better distance myself from them as soon as possible._

Despite that, Shirou couldn't help but feeling a sense of disappointment swelling in his chest, but he ruthlessly pushed it down and avoided thinking about it altogether. _Yes, I should start doing so now. Getting involved with them any further will just complicate things._

Originally, Shirou had planned to get away from Harry's friends slowly. But a perfect opportunity had just presented itself. A rift between them that he wasn't aware of had just appeared. It looked like he could do this sooner than he thought.

* * *

The Sorting Ceremony went rather smoothly. Shirou, along with the rest of the Gryffindor, clapped loudly every time a new member joined their table. After around half an hour, Professor McGonagall finally rolled up the long list in her hands and put away the hat, giving the stage to the Headmaster, who gave a short welcome speech before telling everyone to dig in. Needless to say, the kids were all too happy to comply. They were famished from the long train ride. Shirou was no exception, not to mention he absolutely adored the skill of the cooks of Hogwarts. He quickly took a little of everything within his reach and started to sample them one by one.

_It's great, _Shirou nodded approvingly as he tried the ribs. Perhaps its taste was a little too strong for him since he prefer lighter Japanese food, but it was good nonetheless, and worthy of being appreciated.

A few minutes into the meal, when people had become moderately stuffed, it was time for catch up conversations. Just as Shirou was trying out the soup, a small voice called his name made him glance up and see a round faced boy looking at him.

"Hello, it's nice to see you again," the boy said hesitantly.

"Hi, Neville," Shirou gave him a smile. "How are you doing?"

"Better," Neville beamed. "It's all thanks to you, actually."

"Me? Why?"

"Because of what you said to Gram at the Greengrass's party, she's been easier on me," the boy shrugged. "She's still stern and strict, but I guess it's just how she is. And I realized that I've never thanked you for it. It… It was the first time someone stood up for me," he blushed a little at the confession and looked down at his laps.

"Oh… Ah… That's right, I guess I did say something to her..." Shirou replied, recalling the conversation with the stern old witch. "You don't have to thanks me for it, Neville. Though I hope I didn't offend your grandmother somehow."

"I don't think you did," Neville shrugged. "She was kind of shocked, but otherwise okay with it."

"I see. Well, at least it helped."

The topic then changed into sharing stories of what they did over the summer. The others soon joined the talk, and it went on until the Headmaster stood up from his seat to begin his speech. Without him saying any word, silence immediately fell on the student body as all conversations stopped.

"I'm sure everyone has filled their stomach by now," Dumbledore smiled kindly after taking a look around. "I also have no doubt that you are longing for your comfortable beds in your own dorms. But before we all have that pleasure, there are some important announcements to make. First of all, to all first year students, and some of the older as well, the Forbidden forest on the school ground is, just like its name, forbidden. Also. Mister Filch had asked me to inform you all that an updated list of banned items has been posted on his office door, please come by and take a look."

The wizard then paused for a moment, letting every body take in what he had just said before continuing. Though Shirou had a feeling that the aforementioned list would never be looked at, ever.

"Another notice is that this year, all Quidditch games are canceled."

That particular announcement instantly caused an uproar from the students. However, it was quickly subdued by a series of colorful firework from Dumbledore's wand. After the silence returned, he cleared his throat and said, as if there wasn't any interruption.

"Instead of the annual inter-houses Quidditch tournament, we have the honor to host another..."

Shirou looked around. He could clearly sense the excitement building up with the Headmaster's words. However, his speech was cut off once again by a loud bang by the Great Hall's entrance. Immediately, all eyes turned to focus on the source of the noise, only to see a very intimidating man with a fake leg and horribly scarred face standing there. The most scary thing about that man though, was his fake eye, which was now swirling around wildly inside his eye socket. He then started making his way toward the teacher's table. A dry noise echoed across the hall with each of his steps.

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore, oblivious of all the shocked students, stepped forward and shook the man's hand. A bright smile on his face. "Every body, please welcome professor Moody. He will take the post of 'Defense Against the Dark Art'."

No one reacted, it looked like every body was still too shocked to do that simple action. It didn't bother Moody in the least though. The man just walked to his seat, sat down heavily and started drinking from his own bottle. Soon enough, murmur and whisper could be heard all over.

"That's Moody 'Mad-eye'. I've heard about him from my dad. He's a good friend of professor Dumbledore," Shirou heard Ron whispering next to Hermione. A glance at the newly arrived teacher and he could certainly understand why he got the name 'Mad-eye'.

"Thank you all for your warm welcome," Dumbledore smiled warmly and said, making Shirou roll his eyes. "Now, let us return to the earlier topic. As I was saying, this year, Hogwarts has the honor of holding a major, international event – The Triwizard Tournament."

And _that _was surely able to get a rise out of the students. They turned to each other and started talking heatedly. The ones who knew about it were trying to explain to the ones who didn't. The others just simply expressing their surprise over such a big news.

"I can't believe it," Hermione murmured.

"So that's what my parents and brothers are keeping from us," said a wide-eyed Ron. "I wonder what it takes to be able to join. Imagine winning that..."

Too bad for the red head, his bubble was soon busted by the Headmaster himself when he said that to be able to participate, one must be at least seventeen years old.

"That's not fair," Fred and George complained loudly from the other end of the Gryffindor table.

"Totally not fair," Ron mumbled angrily as he turned back to his plate.

"You didn't look all that surprised," Hermione suddenly said. It was only then Shirou realized that the witch had been watching him for quite awhile.

"Well yeah. I kind of knew about it," he shrugged and poured himself a cup of tea, pumpkin juice was too sweat for his taste. "Didn't know about the age restriction part though."

"But how did you..." Hermione hesitated for a second before her hand shot up to her mouth. "Malfoy!"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Malfoy told you about the tournament. That's why you two were talking fr...eh...politely. No one else could have told you that."

Shirou simply nodded. _She's sharp._

"You knew? And you didn't even bother to tell us? Some friends you are," from next to the bushy haired witch, a red faced Ron growled. Shirou had to say that his face now matched his hair quite nicely.

"Maybe I would have if you didn't assault me with all the talk about me having a conversation with Malfoy," he replied calmly while sipping on his tea, not looking at the red head. _And so it begins._

"Now you make excuses," Ron spat angrily. "If you prefer those snakes over your friends, your best mates, you can just say so, you know."

With that, he stormed out of the hall. Shirou let out a heavy sigh as his eyes followed the youngest Weasley boy. Next to him, Hermione was obviously torn between chasing after Ron or asking Shirou for more details. Shirou also noticed that almost all eyes inside the Great Hall were now on them, but he just couldn't bring himself to care anymore. He wanted to distance himself from Harry's friend, but doing so brought himself a lot of pain and regret.

"Is...Is that true?" In the end, Hermione asked shakily.

"What is?"

"You...prefer Malfoy over...us," she looked like she was on verge of tear. Shirou just stared at her for a moment, debating what to say. Finally though, he turned away and mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Yes." _This is it._

Everyone around him gasped. The Gryffindor's Golden Boy just admitted that he preferred the company of his enemy over his best friends. Shirou sighed again, inwardly, this time even heavier. He never thought that saying just one word could be that difficult.

"I don't believe it."

"Pardon?" He whipped his head around to look at Hermione again after hearing her answer.

"I said I don't believe what you just said," she repeated firmly. Her eyes were a little wet but otherwise, the girl looked determined, refusing to avoid Shirou's gaze.

"Why don't you tell me the real reason, Harry?" She continued. "I know that's not how you are. What are you hiding from us? Why are you acting like that?"

_No, you don't know who I am, _Shirou thought painfully as he pushed himself up from his seat, breaking the eye contact with Hermione. "Sorry. But you better believe it."

He then quickly left the Great Hall as well. Behind him, Hermione finally broke down into tear and he just didn't have the heart to see it. After passing through the entrance, Shirou decided to head back to the dorm and get some early sleep before the meeting with Adam. For some reasons, he was now feeling utterly tired. To his surprise though, he found himself facing Luna Lovegood. The girl was walking up the grand staircase but stopped abruptly on her track as she noticed him. She then turned around and just stood there with her dreamy smile, her eyes never left his face. Obviously, she wanted to say something, but Shirou's mind was simply too filled to care. He walked past her without spare the girl a single glance.

"You made a mistake, Harry," that though, didn't keep Luna's soft voice from reaching his ears as he went upstairs.

"No, I most certainly did not," he whispered to himself.

"_...consider the consequences..." _Dumbledore's words a few days ago started ringing again, but with a quick shake of his head, Shirou shut the voice out. He did the right thing. It wasn't easy, yes, but it was the right thing.

* * *

"It's alright, Hermione," Ginny said gently while patting on Hermione's back. The youngest Weasley child had quickly made her way over after Harry left the Great Hall, leaving behind a sobbing Hermione.

"I...I don't understand..." The bushy haired witch said between sobs. "Why did he behave like that?"

"Just ignore the prat for now, okay?" Ginny tried to calm her down while glancing at Neville on the other side of the table for help.

"Oh..." Neville stuttered. "It's… I think I'm with Hermione. That's not the Harry we know. Something must be going on for him to say those things. Maybe… Maybe Malfoy got hold of one of Harry's secrets and was blackmailing him?"

That particular sentence made Hermione's face snapped up and looked at the boy with teary eyes. But her sobbing had stopped as she thought it over. After a few seconds, a small smile graced her lips.

"That's it, Neville," she exclaimed and grabbed his hand, a little too happily for someone who had just broken down to tear seconds ago. "That must be it. There's no way Harry would… We would have to help him somehow. You're in, right?"

The round faced boy blushed and nodded weakly while retracting his hands from hers. He obviously didn't expect to be pulled in something like that.

"How about you, Ginny?"

"Well, if that's how it is, I'll do what I can," Ginny replied with a smile. "Can't have that git blackmailing our Golden Boy now, can we?"

"Exactly," Hermione nodded firmly as she stood up. "We will have to find out what Malfoy knows first. I'll also have a talk with Ron..."

"I don't think he's of much help, to be honest," Ginny sighed, which seemed to deflate the older witch a little. "You all saw how angry he was..."

"That's because he didn't know the reason," Neville reminded her. "He's Harry's best mate, he's going to help… Right?"

"Well, nevertheless, we still should talk with him," Hermione said and Neville nodded. Ginny on the other hand, grinned mischievously.

"You mean _you _will talk with him?"

"Me and Neville then..." Hermione answered, but after one look on said boy's face, she sighed heavily. "Fine! _I _will talk to him. Happy?"

Ginny's grin just grew even wider while Neville letting out a small sigh of relief.

* * *

Shirou was sitting alone on the couch next to the fireplace in Gryffindor's common room, his head rested against the cool glass of the window. He was trying to let it soothe the throbbing headache he was feeling ever since he woke up from his fitful sleep.

_Two minutes to midnight, _thought Shirou, glancing at his watch. It hadn't been a happy night for him. There was the fuss that he created to distant himself from Harry's friends, and the hurtful feeling afterward. And when he finally got up to the Fat Lady's portrait, Shirou realized that he didn't know what the bloody password was, and had to wait for someone else to let him in. It got even worse, since it was clear that Ron didn't know the password either. The encounter between the two didn't last long though, it was just brief enough for the red head to shot him a dirty glare and walked away without saying anything.

Fortunately, it was just five minutes later that someone with the password came to Shirou's rescue.

_Just the perfect way to start a school year, _he sighed, rubbing his tempers furiously. It was then that a movement from the fire place caught his attention.

"Hello?" Shirou called, sitting a little straighter on the couch.

"Ah, good. You're here," a familiar voice came at the same time as Adam Greengrass's head appeared in the flame. It was a bizarre sight, but Shirou had seen it enough time at the Burrow to not be surprised.

"Of course I am. Good to see you again, Adam."

"Are you sure no one knows you're here?" Adam asked as his eyes traveled around the common room.

"Yes," Shirou nodded. "No one saw the note, and the last time I checked all of my roommates were sleeping soundly."

"Alright. But we can't talk for long though. I don't want my wife to become suspicious."

"About that..." He hesitated. "Why did you have Daphne to deliver the message to me? I thought you didn't want to involve her also."

"I still do," Adam sighed. "It was a last resort, since I want to get to you as soon and as secretly as possible. She didn't know what was in the letter. It was charmed to inform me and destroyed itself if anyone other than you opened it. An owl is too unreliable, time-wise, as well as easy to be intercepted as you were coming into Dumbledore's territory."

"That makes sense," Shirou nodded. "But...Something is odd about her...Daphne I mean. I know she didn't like me. But the way she acted..."

"Cold? Doll-like?" Adam smirked.

"Exactly. Wait, you know about it?"

"Of course I do. She's my daughter. I'd advise you not to worry about it though."

"Hmm… Alright. If you say so. It's not like I can inquire her about it or something. As long as she's okay," Shirou shrugged after pondering over it for a second.

"She is, I assure you," Adam nodded. "But we're not here to talk about my daughter. I wanted to meet you to discuss the suicide at the Ministry."

Shirou leaned closer to the fireplace. "I assumed as much. It didn't take you long after the Daily Prophet came out to contact me."

"Actually, I've known about it from the morning it happened," Adam shook his head. "I have my own eyes and ears."

"Then you must have your suspicions on the matter?" Shirou continued. The fact that someone like the Greengrass man being able to get the information early wasn't that much of a surprise.

"In fact, I do. Even Astoria could point out what was wrong with that article. Information has been withheld."

"That much is obvious."

"Yes," Adam sighed. "Unfortunately, since that's the case, we have nothing more to go by other than mere guess works."

"Too bad," Shirou agreed. "But what do you think is the motive of the suicide. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if he was under Imperio or was being controlled somehow."

"It's a possibility. But we shouldn't disregard the others. Anything else?"

"Also..." He hesitated. "Do you think that it may be related to the 'retribution' that you warned me about awhile ago?"

"What makes you think that?" The man raised an eyebrow.

"Just a feeling," Shirou murmured. "I kind of forgot about it until the article came."

"Hm..." Silence then fell over the two of them as Adam considered Shirou's words. Finally, he looked up and said.

"Frankly, I think it's a bit far-fetched. Not impossible though, but I can't find any link between Blake's death and your interference during the World Cup. The bloke wasn't even at the scene before, during, or after the raid… In fact, he was on a vacation abroad..."

"Tsk..." Shirou clicked his tongue in annoyance. Things just kept getting more and more complicated. But he was also relieved that it wasn't his fault that an innocence died. "I'm out of idea for now."

"Same here," Adam said sadly. "It's okay though. I just wanted to hear your input on the matter before starting an investigation on my own. I'll try to access Blake's record and speak with his family members. You can see if you can get Dumbledore's thought on the matter. Be careful though, that old man is not someone you want to take lightly."

"I'll be careful," Shirou nodded.

"I know you will. So I will leave you with your sleep. We will meet back here, same time, two days later. Also, do something about those white hairs. Goodnight."

With that, his head disappeared from the fireplace.

_Oh right, guess I didn't tell him about abandoning the disguise, _thought Shirou as stared at the cracking fire. He looked at his watch again, it was still just quarter past midnight, enough time for another sleep before getting up for practice tomorrow.

_I hope this terrible headache would be gone by then, _he sighed and dragged himself up to the boy's dormitory.

* * *

_Interesting… _Thought Shirou sitting on his bed a few hours later. It was about five in the morning. Luckily, his headache was gone by the time he woke up and started preparing for his morning routine. Just as he was rummaging through the clothes in Harry's trunk to find the track suit he packed back at the Burrow, Shirou accidentally came by some kind of hidden compartment that he didn't notice before. It wasn't that well hidden now that he saw it, but hidden nevertheless. Inside it was just a peace of blank parchment. However, Shirou didn't even need to use Structure Analysis to know that it was some kind of magical artifact, being as prana sensitive as he was.

On the other hand, a quick Analysis was exactly what he needed to know what the parchment actually was, and how to activate it. And now, he was holding it with both hand, staring at the map of Hogwarts, including every secret passages and the passwords to get into them. And as a very welcomed bonus, it also showed every single person within the castle's boundary – _in their true name –_ he noted silently after seeing the dot labeled 'Shirou Emiya' in the exact spot where he was.

_No one can get their hand on this, _Shirou decided. A map of that kind is too dangerous. His Harry Potter persona aside, anyone with it in their possession could have countless way of infiltrating or sneaking out of the castle unnoticed. However, he couldn't deny the usefulness of such artifact.

"Mischief managed," Shirou murmured, clearing the map and put it in the inner pocket of his robe. From now on, he would keep it on his person at all time, just to be sure. It was highly possible that Ron and Hermione also knew about it. Luckily they were no longer friends with 'Harry' anymore.

Or so he thought.

* * *

"What in Merlin's name makes you wake up at this unearthly hour, Harry?" The boy named Dean Thomas mumbled angrily from his bed just as Shirou was sneaking back in the dorm for a shower after his practice. Unfortunately, he wasn't paying enough attention and bumped into said boy's bed on his way in.

"Sorry," Shirou mumbled in respond, trying to tune out the painful feeling in one of his toe. "Just go back to sleep. I'll be more careful."

After muttering some words of choice, Dean turned on his back and fell back to sleep. Shirou then made his way into the bathroom to freshen himself up before getting down to the Great Hall for some breakfast. As expected, he was the first one there, and the food wasn't even served yet. Not that Shirou minded, he enjoyed the peaceful silence and the cool morning air. The day before him was a tiring one, of that he had no doubt. So at the moment, he was trying to savor the comfortable feeling as much as possible.

Half an hour later, students started to pour into the Hall and take their seats. Shirou noticed that after the scene the evening before, the Gryffindors had started to avoid sitting close to him. Ron didn't even look at him once as he was sitting with Hermione, Ginny and Neville at the other end of the table. Even some students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were now glaring at him occasionally. The Slytherins on the other hand, was obviously pleased, some were laughing at him blatantly while McCoy decorating his face with a triumphant smirk as he looked at Shirou's direction. Tracey and Astoria were apparently confused by his behavior. And Daphne was still...Daphne – doll like with a gaze cold as ice.

_At least the food is excellent, _Shirou sighed as he felt the weight of everyone's stare. It was even heavier than before. Suddenly, he caught Luna's eyes and her words from after the feast came rushing back to him.

"No, it was _not _a mistake," he whispered to himself again before breaking the eye contact.

Fortunately, the owls chose that time to arrive, providing Shirou with some much needed distraction. He looked up but saw no sight of Hedwig, which wasn't a surprise. Although an own with the Daily Prophet tied to its leg did make his way toward him and gave him the newspaper, only to fly away again after getting paid along with a piece of bacon offered by Shirou.

"Now, let's see," he opened the paper lazily. While he wasn't much of a newspaper reading fan, Shirou was still curious. He wanted to know if there was any progress on the suicide two days ago. The first page disappointed him though. There was nothing of notice there as it was reserved for the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament. Second page was no better, only trivial news. Shirou wasn't surprised. If the case itself was pushed down to the third page then there wasn't much hope for its investigation to get any better treatment.

However, there was nothing regarding it in the third page either.

_Guess they really tried to cover it up as something unimportant, _Shirou sighed. He was about the set the paper down to continue with his meal, but changed his mind in the end. He'd paid for it after all, might as well see if there was anything interesting.

With that in mind, he turned another page and let his eyes scan the paper. And just a moment later, Shirou was very, very glad that he did so.

At the corner of the fourth page, a title ran across the top of the article.

_**SUICIDE IN THE LOBBY OF THE DAILY PROPHET BUILDING!**_

**End of Chapter 11.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry for the long delay. Due to personal reasons, I'd had to put all of my writing to the side until now.**

* * *

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon that Shirou found himself sitting in a secluded corner of the library, tackling the remainder of his Transfiguration essay. Ever since the 'Fall out of the Golden Trio', as people seemed fond of saying, he stopped hanging out with Harry's friends. Even the rest of the students had turned a cold shoulder toward him. Not that Shirou minded. At any rate, he would leave this place sooner or later.

There were more important things than homework going on outside of Hogwarts. However, with two _very _limited source of information, not to mention having to keep up an appearance with the castle's populace, there was nothing Shirou could do at the moment.

_Stuck here doing homework of all things, when there were murders going on… _He sighed and massaged his eyes, letting them rest after almost an hour of staring at his books and parchment. Shirou supposed that the essay shouldn't be that hard, but without around three years worth of knowledge about the subject, it turned into a total nightmare.

After a couple of minutes, Shirou decided that he'd had enough rest and was about to come back to his homework, a rustling noise came from behind, making him turn around to investigate. He didn't expect anyone to come to the library at this hour during the weekend. However, as Shirou looked back, between his seat and a row of bookshelves standing Tracey Davis with a stack of books on her arms and a mildly surprised look in her eyes that was gone as fast as it came, replaced by a grin. They looked at each other for a few seconds before the Slytherin girl walked over and dropped her book in front of him.

"Potter. Fancy meeting you here," she sat down at the opposite seat.

"Hello to you too, Davis," Shirou said. "Didn't think I'd see anyone here today."

"Oh, believe me, this isn't my first choice," Tracey laughed. "It's just that there will be a Hogsmeade trip the next weekend, and I don't want to let my homework build up too much on that day."

"I see," said Shirou, remembering the notice about said trip stuck on the board in Gryffindor's common room.

"Well, that and I can't stand the atmosphere in our common room anymore," she sighed. "I _hate _library, but anything is better than to be in there right now."

"What happened?" Asked Shirou, looking back down on his own homework. He wasn't too interested in the Slytherins' affair, but decided to be polite and replied anyway.

"I'm not sure if…" Tracey hesitated, but then answered. "Hell, it isn't a secret anyway. You remember the fiasco at the Quidditch World Cup?"

"I do. What about it?" The unexpected answer made Shirou raised an eyebrow. His attention was once again torn away from the pages on the desk.

"Then you must know that some people died that day, right?"

"Of course. It was all over the paper," Shirou said, trying to keep a frown from showing on his face. A moment later, a thought came to him and it was clear why Tracey was feeling uncomfortable in her own common room. "Some of the Slytherins' parents…"

"That's right," nodded Tracey. "Goyle's, and parents of two other seven years. Those dunderheads… They even said that they would make the Archer pay for what he did."

She snorted and looked away.

"You aren't sorry for them?" Asked Shirou, feeling rather surprised at Tracey's cold attitude toward her own housemates.

"I do," she shook her head. "It sucks that their parents died, and I feel bad for them. It's just… I can't stand Death Eaters. And it looks like those fools are trying to follow their parents' footsteps to become one."

"Maybe they are," Shirou said. "But couldn't anything be done before then? I'm sure they could be convinced to change their minds."

_Because it sucks, having to kill them later on if that really happens, _he sighed inwardly. Just the thought of it was enough to make his stomach clench. Even worse, Shirou knew that he wouldn't hesitate if that time ever came.

"Well yeah, I'm sure as hell I won't try convincing them," Tracey scoffed. "We are Slytherins, Potter. In public, we put up an united front to make our lives easier. The rest of the time, it's mostly everyone for themselves."

Pausing a little, she then looked back at Shirou, observing him intently before smiling.

"I wonder why I'm telling you that. It's not something we let outsiders know about. I haven't even considered to talk to you before. You've changed, Potter."

"Having no memory tend to do that, I guess," Shirou shrugged, showing what he thought was his best innocent face.

"It's not just memory." Tracey shook her head. "Your appearance changed as well. I almost couldn't recognize you anymore. White hair, no glasses, and not as scrawny. You're like another person."

"Too bad. It's still just me, Harry Potter," Shirou said, holding up his arms. His action made Tracey smiled again.

"I know, Potter. By the way, how are things with Weasleys and Granger?"

Hearing the question, Shirou just let out a sigh and let his arms fall freely at his side.

"Haven't talked with either of them, and I have no plan to," he said. "Speaking of which, where's Greengrass?"

"She's sending a letter to her parents," Tracey said, still staring at him for a few more seconds before finally letting the matter go and sighed. "Enough chit chat, I think. We came here to do homework, after all. Though I have to say that it's rather strange, studying together with a Gryffindor."

"Will you get into trouble if your housemates see us?" Asked Shirou, once again looking down at an open book on the desk. He then grimaced, realizing that he'd completely forgot the part he was reading before the conversation.

"Maybe, but none of them will be here at this time," Tracey shrugged and took a look at him. "Say, do you need help with that? Transfiguration is my best subject, and it'd be nice to start with something easier before tackling Professor Snape's essay."

Thus, for the first time ever since the day he arrived at Hogwarts, Shirou was able to finish an essay that he felt rather confident about. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for his helper. For all of her effort, Tracey still couldn't finish her own Potions essay by the time they finally left the library.

"Professor Snape's gonna kill me," she groaned in desperation as the two of them parted way. As much as he wanted to help her, Shirou's knowledge of Potions was the same as his other subjects, which was close to nothing.

* * *

"Good to see you again, Harry," said Adam, as his head once again appeared inside the Gryffindor's fireplace.

"Adam," Shirou nodded. "I'm rather surprised that you woke me up in the middle of the night for an urgent meeting. Did something happen? You got any lead about the suicide case?"

"Nothing major happened," Adam shook his head. "And I haven't gotten anything useful, not yet anyway."

"Then what do you need me for?" Sighed Shirou, feeling the frustration building up within his chest. The suicide cases were eating him from inside, and the helplessness at the situation only served to make it worse.

"Don't be disappointed," Adam said. "I might have something. I'm just not sure if it's useful or not."

"Better than nothing. Tell me," said Shirou.

"I'm hoping that you would be able to tell _me_, Harry," Adam grinned. "Truth is, it's just a piece of intel that our spy managed to get. It will be your second assignment to go to the mentioned place and retrieve the information for us."

"Where do I need to go?" Asked Shirou, a little more hastily than he usually was. Finally, a lead had appeared in front of him, and he couldn't wait to grab it.

"Calm down," Adam laughed. "It wasn't that far. All I ask of you is to participate in the upcoming Hogsmeade trip. Go alone, our contact will be waiting for you in a pub called the Hog's Head. She would be able to fill you in with the necessary details."

"Alright, I guess," Shirou frowned, wondering why Adam couldn't just tell him right now. "But how will I know who I am supposed to meet?"

"I wasn't finished," said Adam. "When you get there, go to the bar and order a _warm _butterbeer. She will come and stand next to you. Greet her using a sentence with the words 'grey' in it. If she answered with another sentence that contains 'sunny', then you can process normally. If she said 'rain', then you two are being compromised. Get out of there as fast as you can."

"And what if I get it wrong?" Asked Shirou.

"She will attack you," Adam said simply. "Make sure you don't mess up your part. I apologize for all the trouble, but it's important that we aren't compromised. After all the steps that we took at the World Cup, they still managed to figure out that there's a spy within their ranks. Luckily, they still don't know exactly who."

"That's a relief," Shirou smiled. "Alright, I'll go and meet this contact of yours. Hope we would be able to learn something useful to stop this madness."

"I certainly hope so," Adam sighed. "By the way, you still haven't found a solution for that hair yet?"

"Oh, this?" Shirou looked up and grabbed a part of his bang with his fingers. "I managed to convince everyone that it's possible to have white hair at a young age. It doesn't matter though, I'm going to be out of here soon anyway."

"So you've decided not to play the role of Harry Potter anymore?"

"Yes," Shirou nodded. "It doesn't feel right."

"We will lose a lot of advantages the name Potter can bring," Adam frowned. "Never mind, we will talk about this later. For now I'll let you focus on the upcoming assignment. Later, Harry."

With that, his head disappeared and the flame returned to its normal color. Left alone, Shirou stood up and returned to the dorm, feeling a little better. At last, he would be able to do something other than pretending to be a good student.

* * *

Finally, the long awaited day of the Hogsmeade trip had arrived. Originally, Shirou didn't think much of it and wasn't about to participate, but the meeting with Adam had changed that. After finishing his breakfast, he got down to the school gate and climbed up a carriage together with three other third years, who couldn't help but staring at him the whole time. Still, at least he didn't have to talk to anyone.

The trip didn't take long. As Shirou got off the carriage, his first impression of Hogsmeade was that it was a peaceful small village. Though it could get a little empty without the students. With his enhanced vision, Shirou easily cast his gaze as far as the other end of the main street that ran the length of the village. However, he couldn't find any place called the Hog's Head. It wasn't a problem though. The pub might just be located inside an alley, and he just had to ask a local for its location.

Taking a few steps toward the village, Shirou stopped on his track. Not far in front of him was the familiar sight of Harry's group of friends - Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny. At the first glance, it wasn't anything wrong with four friends hanging out during a trip. However, at a closer look, Shirou could see that they were putting their heads together and whispering hastily, all the while casting occasional glance toward something, or someone, ahead of them. Following their gaze, he saw Draco walking all alone along the main street, looking unusually pleased.

There was no doubt about it, Ron and Hermione's group was tailing the Slytherin blond. Though for what purpose, he didn't know. However, given the stories that Shirou had been told, he could guess that whatever they were going to do, it was either stupid or dangerous, or even both.

_Not my business, _shaking his head, Shirou continued on his track. He had more important things to do. Besides, there were many teachers here in the village, and they surely would interfere if something dangerous was about to happen. There was nothing to worry about on that end.

It took Shirou fifteen minutes to got to the Hog's Head. Looking at the state of the pub, he finally understood the reason for the villager to look at him strangely when he asked for the direction. It was a run down, shady building, hidden away at the end of a dark alley. There was no question about what kind of people usually visit this place.

Taking a deep breath, Shirou then pushed the door and got inside. The interior of the building looked even worse. Dirt and dust seemed to dominate the entire thing, and the room was poorly lit with a few rays of light that shone through the banged up windows. As he stepped in, Shirou could feel the gazes of everyone in the room on him for a brief moment before they all returned to their own business. Strangely, it felt rather good. Not being gawked at was definitely a welcoming change.

The same couldn't be said for the actual patrols of the pub though. Taking a glance around, Shirou couldn't help but grimace at the sight of robed, hooded people sitting at the corners of the room, whispering to their own partners.

_Talking about a shady place, _he sighed and decided to ignore his surrounding. Adam surely had his reasons for choosing this pub. Making his way toward the bar, Shirou then greeted the bartender, got ignored, and ordered a warm butterbeer as instructed.

The old bartender looked at him oddly for a second, before turning away, mumbling rather angrily, like he was interrupted from doing something important. He soon returned together with a dusty bottle and handed it to Shirou. The moment he'd done paying for the drink, a hooded witch walked over and stood next to him.

"I'll have the same as him," she said to the bartender before turning to smile at Shirou. Though he couldn't see the upper half of her face due to the hood, there was something familiar about her that almost made him flinch. It took him a few seconds to regain himself and greeted her.

"Good morning, not very good weather today, isn't it? The sky is so grey, I hope it wouldn't rain…"

Her smile grew a little wider as she replied.

"I agree. I prefer sunny days myself. Come, we have much to discuss."

Taking the butterbeer that the bartender handed, the witch then started walking toward the back of the pub with Shirou following closely behind. After they got into the room at the end of a short hallway, she pulled out her wand and cast a series of complex privacy charms before settling down on a chair and opened her bottle.

"So, you're the one Adam has his eyes on. I am Eleanor Zabini. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Harry Potter, but you've already known that," Shirou nodded politely and sat down on one of the remaining empty chairs. "I remember you from the Greengrasses' party awhile ago."

"Indeed," Eleanor smiled. "I've heard about you in a letter from Adam, and could help myself from coming and take a look. Frankly, I doubted Adam's words about you, but after seeing you put him in his place…" She chuckled, leaving her sentence hanging.

"He was an unknown at the time, or even now, for that matter," Shirou shrugged before looking at the witch again. "I might be wrong, but are you also the spy that showed up during the World Cup raid?"

"I am. And I would appreciate it if that bit of information doesn't leave this room," she winked.

"My mouth is sealed," Shirou smiled slightly. His opinion on the witch in front of him had raised a little.

"Good," Eleanor nodded. "Now, before we go into the main reason for us to be here, I want you to know that Adam trusts you. The fact that he arranged this meeting is a proof. Remember that after you've finished this assignment."

"What do you mean by that?" Shirou frowned. Whatever she meant by that, it couldn't be good.

"You will know soon enough," Eleanor sighed and took out a piece of parchment from inside her robe. "Here, read this. The details of today's work is in there. I will answer any question you have afterward."

Shirou took the parchment from her hand, opened it and started reading. As his eyes ran through the written words, his face got paler and paler. Finally, Shirou managed to look up and asked, his voice shook from both terror and anger.

"Are...Are you serious? What the hell is he trying to pull here?"

* * *

Daphne Greengrass and best friend Tracey Davis had just got off of their carriage and were now walking toward Hogsmeade. It was a nice Sunday morning, in her opinion. Daphne doubt that Tracey would agree with her though. That girl had always been a fan of sunny weather, instead of the current cloudy sky.

"The weather sucks," as expected, Tracey complained the moment her foot touched the ground. "So, where do you want to go first?"

"Let's go grab some quills and parchments, I'm running out of them," answered Daphne as they passed the village's gate. It was always nice to be able to get out of the castle once in awhile, especially with everything going on within her house right now.

However, Daphne's thought was quickly pulled back to the letter that her father sent a week ago, telling, no, ordering her _not _to go into Hogsmeade today. Obviously, as usual, the old man didn't even bother to state the reason. Therefore, Daphne had decided to ignore him, but not before sending a letter back, telling him that she had no reason to stay inside on such a nice day like this.

_What's with him, I wonder… _She sighed. Despite her action, deep down, Daphne knew that her father must have his own reason. She decide to keep her eyes open for the rest of the day, trying to spot anything out of place. So far, that only consisted of Potter's gang of former friends tailing Draco Malfoy toward the Shrieking Shack, and Potter himself sneaking into the alley that led to the Hog's Head.

Needless to say, the latter captured her attention immediately.

"What is Potter doing, going in there?" Tracey asked. Apparently, she had also noticed the boy's behavior.

"Who knows," said Daphne, turning away. "He'd been very strange lately."

"You noticed that too. So it wasn't just me," Tracey exclaimed, a little too loudly, but quickly calmed down after a glare from Daphne. "Sorry. Well, want to find out why he's going in there?"

Looking back at the alley that led to the Hog's Head, Daphne considered the question for a moment. She was curious as much as the girl next to her. Still, snooping around and spying on other people, like what Granger and her gang of friends were doing, wasn't Daphne's style. If she wanted, she could find another way later.

"No," she said. "We have better things to do other than following a strange boy into an alley."

"Okay…?" Tracey replied in an unsure tone. "Do you seriously think that buying quills and parchments is more fun than finding out what Potter is up to?"

"No," Daphne admitted rather shamelessly. "I just don't want to snoop around and eavesdropping on people."

With that, the conversation was over. The two young witch then spent their time to pick out a dozen of new quills and stacks of parchments to be sent to their dorm later via owl. Afterward, they visited Honey Duke, one of Daphne's few favorite places in Hogsmeade. Finally, after half an hour browsing through their newest products in a warm and sweet atmosphere, they got out of the store and decided to get a rest at the Three Broomsticks.

"There's not much to do anymore, isn't there?" Asked Tracey as they chose a booth to sit down together.

"It isn't like there is a lot to do here from the start," Daphne shrugged.

"That's true too," Tracey laughed.

At that time, Madam Rosmerta came over to get their orders. Daphne asked her for two bottle of butterbeer, since there wasn't anything else worth drinking anyway then turned back to her friend, who suddenly went quiet. After a few second, Tracey finally said.

"You know, I talked with Potter the other day…"

"And?" Daphne raised an eyebrow. "Why are you bringing it up?"

"Well, I don't know," Tracey said. "I'm interested in him, not in _that _way," she quickly added after seeing the look on Daphne's face. "You saw it too, right? Potter, Gryffindor's Golden boy is gone, and now he's...someone else."

"I guess," Daphne said, leaning back on her seat. "My father suddenly got all interested in him too, inviting him to my birthday party and all. I'm surprised that he came."

"See? That's what I'm talking about. Do you think it was because of his amnesia."

"That's possible," Daphne shrugged. "But there's more. On the day we board the Hogwarts Express, my father also asked me to discreetly pass Potter a piece of note. I don't know what was on it, but I knew that it was charmed so that only him could open it."

"How come I haven't heard of that?" Asked Tracey.

"Sorry, must have slipped from my mind," Daphne apologized.

"Did he even tell you what it was about?"

"You really think that he did?" She raised an eyebrow.

"No. Just asking," Tracey shook her head. Their conversation paused briefly after that as Madam Rosmerta returned with two bottles of butterbeer on a silver tray. As soon as she left, the two girls opened their bottles, but before either of them could drink, a piercing scream came from outside made everyone in the pub stop their activities at once and looked around in confusion. Some students ran over to the windows and peeked outside, while a couple of professors sprang up and drew their wands.

They didn't have to wait long for an answer, as just a few seconds later, a seventh year Ravenclaw dashed into the pub and slammed the door behind her back. Her face looked as if all of her blood had been drained as she stuttered in horror.

"It's...the Daywalkers… They just appeared out of nowhere and…"

That was everything Daphne could hear before all hell broke loose inside the pub. Around Daphne and Tracey, almost everybody started to scream and run, shoving and pushing each other in order to get out of the building as quickly as possible. She didn't blame them though. The Daywalkers - a mutant vampire species that could walk under the sun without fear of being burned to crisps. They were weakened, but that still wasn't enough for a normal witch or wizard to go against them alone, thanks to their magic resistance and invulnerability against most weapons.

All of the pureblood and halfblood had no doubt heard about their reputation. Most of the muggleborns hadn't, though just from looking at their friends reactions, they were able to guess what was happening.

"Daywalkers…" Tracey looked around frantically. "Wh...What should we do?"

"I…" Daphne opened her mouth but didn't know anything to say. Her face was as pale as her friend's and her brained seemed to froze, making her feel a little dizzy. What should she do in such a situation? Stay where she was with the professors? Or make a run for it and try to get back to the castle where she would be safe within its ancient wards?

Fortunately, she didn't have to decide, as at the entrance, professor McGonagall had finally snapped herself out of her shock and produced a series of fireworks from the tip of her wand, attracting everyone's attention.

"Don't panic," she said. Her voice was amplified enough for the entire room to hear. "Stay where you are and don't try to run back to the castle. You can't outrun a Daywalker. We have put some protective wards in place. They should be enough to keep you safe until the Aurors arrive."

That seemed enough to calm everyone in the room down a little. Seeing no point in arguing, the students started to settle down into small groups. Here and there, small sobbings could be heard along with some encouraging whispers. Daphne and Tracey returned to their own booth. This time, they sat together on the same bench, clasping each other's hand tightly. Daphne could feel her friend shaking, and was trying her best not to do the same. She was always the stronger, calmer one, and it needed to remain that way, now more than ever.

Not that it was an easy to do. Taking a look out of the window over the heads of some curious students, Daphne could see smoke started to raise from some of the building, as well as people running frantically. And then she saw _them, _dressed in black robes while moving around with inhuman speed. She and most of the students had had to turn their eyes away as one of the villager was caught by a Daywalker. No one said it, but everyone knew that the poor bloke's fate was sealed.

Glancing at her friend, who was now keeping her head down and her eyes shut tightly, Daphne wondered just how long the professor's wards would hold up. They were being trapped like rats within their own defense, and once it collapsed, there would be nowhere to run. Just the thought of what was going to happen once those horrible creature managed to get their hand on her was enough to make Daphne shivered in horror.

For the first time in awhile, she regretted not listening to her father. That old man must have known about this when he warned her not to go to Hogsmeade today.

_Calm down, Daphne, _she took a deep breath. Nothing good would come from getting panicked. However, the moment he looked out of the window again, all of her newly regained composure vanished in an instant.

"Oh no, Astoria…" Daphne murmured as she recognized the familiar figure of her sister on the other side of the street. _Just what in Merlin's name that she 's doing out there? Father had surely warned her as well._

"Tracey, Tracey," as quietly as possible, Daphne turned over and whispered into her friend's ear.

"W...What?"

"Astoria is out there," she said.

"What?" Apparently, that managed to get Tracey's attention. The girl, whose face was still resembling the color of a leaf, looked up with wide eyes. "It's not safe out there…"

"I know," Daphne gritted her teeth. "That's why I'm going to get her. Can you stay here by yourself for awhile. Just a few minutes, I promise."

"No, Daphne," Tracey sobbed. "Ask one of the professors…"

She wasn't able to finish that sentence though, as banging noises started to echo through the entire pub. The students inside started to scream and hugging each other even tighter as a couple of Daywalkers peered at them from the outside through a front window, all the while baring their bloody teeth.

"They are trying to force their way through the ward," professor McGonagall shouted to her companions. "We need to reinforce it and keep them out."

The adults witches and wizards then all raised their wands and began chanting complex spells. From the look of it, none of them would be able to help Daphne now.

"There goes the teachers," she mumbled, glancing out of the window again. Astoria had ran inside the opposite alley. She needed to get there as soon as possible.

"Don't go, Daphne," Tracey begged, holding onto her sleeves.

"Just a few minutes, okay? I promise," Daphne said quickly before freeing herself and snuck out of the backdoor. She then looked it again just in case.

Dashing toward the nearest corner, she flattened herself against the wall and peeked out just a little to make sure that the path was clear, before moving as fast as she could toward the main street. However, as she reached the window of a nearby building, Daphne had had to threw herself down onto the ground, just in time to avoid being noticed by a Daywalker who just entered said building's interior.

"No… Please, don't hurt me…" A woman's begging voice came from the other side of the wall, which was soon followed by her sickening painful scream. Daphne, while still trying to hide herself as best as she could, wasn't able to keep herself from shaking. Tears started rolling down her cheek. It was terrible, imagining that she could be the next prey, if only that Daywalker looked out of the window…

However, almost a minute passed without anything happened, Daphne finally managed to gather her courage and took a peek over the window, only to almost threw up from the sight of a bloody corpse. The Daywalker was gone though. Quickly turning away, she wiped away the tears and continued walking.

Despite her wasn't able to walk very well due to all the shaking of her legs, it didn't take Daphne long to reach the main street. It looked like the Aurors had arrived, though they weren't a match for the monsters and were being pushed back. It did help to take the attention off of a small girl like her though. Without wasting another second, Daphne dashed across the street, into the alley that she saw Astoria went in earlier. Unfortunately, her sister was nowhere to be seen.

_Maybe she'd gotten deeper inside, _thought Daphne as she stepped forward, all the while calling her sister's name. It was almost five minutes and she was about to lose hope that a voice came from behind a rundown building.

"Is that you, Daphne?"

"Yes, it's me. You alright?" In all of her life, Daphne had never fell so relieved to hear Astoria's voice as much as she was now. Running over to her sister, she almost broke down to tear again to see her shaken, but unscathed.

"I'm fine. I managed to hide from them," Astoria said with shaky voice.

"It's not safe here," Daphne said quickly. "We should get back to the Three Broomsticks. The professors there could keep us safe. Now that the Aurors had arrived, the pressure should've been taken off of that building for awhile, but we have to hurry up."

Astoria nodded and started to follow her back the way she came from. Unfortunately, before the two of them could get out of the alley, they were stopped by the sight of a Daywalker looking straight at their direction, and slowly, a horrifying grin crept onto its blood covered face as it slowly took some steps toward them.

"Turn around. Run!" Daphne shouted as she took her sister's hand and started running as fast as she could toward the opposite direction. They couldn't outrun a Daywalker, she knew, but if they were lucky enough, they might be able to lose it within this maze of an alley.

And so she ran, together with Astoria. Daphne didn't know how long the two of them had been at it, but she could feel herself sweating all over, and her chest started to hurt. Her head also became dizzy due to the lack of oxygen but she didn't stop. If she stopped, they would both be dead.

However, the two of them eventually ran into a dead end. To Daphne's horror, as she turned around, the Daywalker had already standing at the other end of the small path, blocking their escape route. Apparently, all of their running meant nothing to it, as it was just toying with them the whole time.

"Wh...What should we do, sis…?" Astoria sobbed. Daphne herself also wanted to cry, but she just couldn't let her sister die like that. Turning to her side and cast "Alohomora" on a door next to them, she then dragged her sister through it and locked the door behind their back. Without proper warding though, the lock wouldn't last for even a second.

"Quickly, upstairs," she said, pointing to a set of stair leading upward. This time she let Astoria go first. The two of them didn't stop until they've reached the roof of the building.

"Where should we go next?" Asked Astoria as the two of them took in their surrounding. For them, the best option right now was to jump over to the roof of the next shop and get down using its stair. However…

_Do it or we die, _shaking her head, Daphne and Astoria ran over to the edge of the building.  
The moment they were in the position to take the jump though, it all became obvious that it couldn't be done. It wasn't an issue to Astoria, but Daphne, on the other hand, as she stood on the edge and looked down at the street below, her legs buckled and she unconsciously took a step backward before falling over, landing cleanly on her bum.

"Come on, sis. You can do it, please," Astoria ran over and tried to pull her up. However, Daphne's legs refused to listen to her command.

"It...It's no use, Astoria," she said shakily. "You know I can't stand high places. You go, I'll be here to hold it off, hopefully long enough for you to escape."

"How...touching…" A sickly voice came from behind them, made them turn around. The Daywalker had caught up, and it didn't even running, but just walking slowly to corner its helpless prey. "You should listen to your sister, little girl. Maybe you would get to live for a few more minutes. If you stay here though, I'll give you the pleasure of seeing me feed on her. How wonderful is that?"

"You sick monster," Daphne spat and stood up unsteadily, putting herself in front of Astoria and drew her wand. "I won't let you touch her."

"And you think you can stop me with that human's toy stick?" The Daywalker laughed. It then looked at them with a hungry gleam and licked its lips. "But it's no fun when the preys don't struggle. Come on, give me your best."

Taking a step back, Daphne then waved her wand and murmured the incantation, shooting a jet of flame toward the monster. She knew it was of no use though, normal flame was no match for their magic resistance. If only she learned how to cast the Fiendfyre… Its instruction was right in her family's library, and she would only need to sneak past her father in order to get her hand on it…

"Is that all?" The Daywalker laughed once more and pressed forward. "You should be better than that. Try again."

Of course, there was no need for it to tell her what to do. Daphne tried, and tried many times with all kind of jinxes and curses that she could remember. None of them could even remotely damage the monster as it closed upon her and her sister, step by step. Finally, it was right in front of them, and they had nowhere to run, since the edge of the roof was right behind their back.

"Game over. Now it's time for me to enjoy my preys," it said, grinning madly while stretching out its arm toward the two young witches.

_I'm sorry, Astoria. I couldn't protect you, _Daphne closed her eyes tightly, feeling her heart clenched from the sound of her little sister crying behind her back. She was about to die, but Astoria didn't deserve any of this…

Suddenly, a pained scream startled Daphne, making her open her eyes just a little to see what was going on. To her utter shock, the Daywalker had taken a few steps back, hissing painfully while its body started turning into dust. Glancing upward, Daphne saw that its head was pierced by a silver arrow which soon vanished into thin air without a trace.

"What...What just happened?" Astoria asked in surprise, looking around and tried to figure out what was going on. Daphne, on the other hand, whipped her head around to the direction that she thought the arrow came from, and then, she saw _him._

On top of the Owlery - Hogsmeade's highest building, standing a figure dressed in white and blue, with a hood over his head. On his hands were a long black bow and another silver arrow. Needless to say, Daphne managed to recognize the person the moment she laid her eyes on him.

The Archer had decided to show himself once again.

**End of Chapter 12**


	13. Chapter 13

Saying Shirou was angry probably was one of the biggest understatements ever. To be exact, he was utterly furious. Standing atop the Hogsmeade's Owlery, Shirou could feel the fire burning within him as he unleashed a volley of silver arrows down at the Daywalkers on the ground. Being hit by surprise, the weaker monsters were getting slaughtered while some of the stronger ones managed to avoid being hit, but it was enough for their preys to get away to the safety of the warded buildings, temporarily set up by the Aurors once the pressure had been taken off of them.

As an inevitable result, attention of the whole horde was focused on him. Not that it could make much of a threat. Having the vantage point overlooking the whole town, Shirou was almost untouchable as he could see clearly into every direction and stopped any attempt of the Daywalkers to get close to him. All of those foolish monsters that were brave enough to try were all greeted by a silver arrow and turned into dust in an instant.

That was it, until he spotted the Greengrass sister running on the roof of a building below. It looked like they wanted to jump over to the next building, but wasn't able to, and was soon cornered by a Daywalker. During that moment of distraction, another one managed to creep close to Shirou and jumped on him, its claws bared. Noticing it through the corner of his eyes, Shirou turned on his heel and with a swift movement, the arrow in his hand shifted into a sword, slicing the Daywalker's head off in a single strike. When he turned around again, the sword had already turned back into an arrow as he loaded it into his raised bow and released, just in time to prevent the Slytherin witches from being harmed by the monster pursuing them.

It was at that moment, that Shirou felt a chill ran down his spine. He didn't see what was coming, but every nerve within his body was screaming at him to dodge, so without thinking, he lept off of the Owlery, barely avoiding a flash of metal sliced through the space where his neck was just a second ago.

Reinforcing his legs to support the fall, Shirou landed on the roof of a lower building. Without even looking up, he let the bow he was holding vanish, before tracing Kanshou into his right hand and swung it upward at full force. Sparks flied into every direction as the white blade collided with the enemy's weapon, deflecting it and sent the attacker flying until he landed on the other end of the roof.

"Your sword play isn't half bad for someone who call himself Archer, isn't it?" Asked the attacker in a low, calm voice as he and Shirou both stood up, facing each other. It was only then that Shirou managed to get a good look at him. The monster standing in front of him was no doubt a Daywalker. But there was something different. Shirou could feel much more malice, as well as magical power radiated from the one standing in front of him. Also, while he was wearing the same attire as the others of the horde, there was also a black hood covering most of his face, and he was using a longsword as an weapon instead of bare claws and teeth.

"Are you the leader of those monsters?" Asked Shirou while observing his opponent.

"Aye," he replied. "But 'monsters'? Isn't that a little harsh? We're just feeding. We need food too, you know. How is it any different from you human eating cows or pigs?"

"As far as I'm concerned, your kind can live off livestocks just as well. Why attacks human?"

"Because it's fun, and they taste better," the Daywalker said. "We also need to satisfy the thirst of our new recruits, which can't be quenched by animals' blood. But again, it isn't your business, and I'm not here to explain ourselves to you."

The two of them then started circling around the roof, looking for an opening to strike. Their eyes hadn't once left each other.

"You're interesting, Archer. I've never seen my kind being killed off so quickly, even by the most skilled witches and wizards. You really are something else."

"You think this whole thing is amusing?" Shirou asked, disgust apparent in his tone.

"Why yes," the Daywalker laughed. "You wouldn't understand, human. Or maybe you would, if you were to become one of us."

"Dream on," Shirou growled.

"Full of yourself, aren't we?" His opponent mocked. "Who said I was inviting you? No, you'll provide better entertainment this way. So that I can enjoy killing you, slowly. Well, if you still survive having your limbs being cut off, one by one, then I'll consider letting you join us."

As their talk was finished, the Daywalker suddenly turned into a blurry shadow and reappeared in front of Shirou in a blink of an eye. He only raised Kanshou just in time to block the incoming strike and was pushed back a couple of steps. The moment their weapons collided, Shirou felt a shock running through his arm, together with the numbness he got from deflecting the earlier strike, it almost made him drop the blade. Still, it was enough to unable him from using the same arm again for a brief moment as his opponent launched another attack aimed at his head.

Twisting himself out of the way of the incoming sword, Shirou traced Bakuya into his left hand, and using the motion of his spin, swung it upward. If it were to connect, the Daywalker would have been sliced in halves, from the bottom of his torso to his shoulder. Unfortunately, Shirou's imperfect body Reinforcement didn't provide him enough speed to achieve that goal, and thus, his attack were parried, sending him rolling on the ground before springing back up into a ready position.

_Damn, _Shirou cursed silently. The exercise that he was doing daily had managed to improve his current body's condition greatly, but there was still a long way until it could catch up with his original one.

The Daywalker didn't seem to be fazed at all by the sudden appearance of a second blade. Instead, he just readied himself and attacked again, this time delivering a flurry of stabs at vital points on Shirou's body. Shirou managed to deflect most of them, dodged some others, all the while slipping his own counter attacks in between. For once or twice, he was so sure that his strike would connect, but they were all either blocked or parried.

The two of them traded blows for almost thirty seconds, and Shirou was already panting. He was afraid that if the current situation was allowed go to on, his body wouldn't be able to keep up with the strain. Deciding to end it, Shirou reinforced his body even further, pushing its limit and was about to try putting some distance between them when the Daywalker suddenly ceased attacking and pulled away.

"That's enough for today," he grinned widely. "You're fun, Archer. But Dumbledore is coming. I don't want to risk fighting both you and that old goat at the same time. Farewell."

"Wait!" Shirou dash forward and struck, but Kanshou just sliced through empty air as the Daywalker activated a hidden Portkey and vanished. The same was happening to the remainings of his horde. Within just a second, they retreated, leaving behind a mess of destroyed building and blood everywhere.

Feeling all of his strength escaped from his body, Shirou lowered his reinforcement a little, releasing the prana from Kanshou and Bakuya and was about to get away himself. Unfortunately, he let his body and mind relax more than necessary, and thus didn't notice a wave of magic coming at him until it was too late. Shirou had only enough time to recognize the Banishing Charm before it threw him off the roof, slamming his back onto the opposite wall.

"Ugh…" Shirou groaned as he fell helplessly to the ground. His body didn't suffer heavy damage, but he couldn't move because the back of his neck also got hit. His vision blurred and Shirou could barely make out anything in front of him. He should recover shortly, but this was extremely dangerous situation to be in. It was obvious that someone attacked him on purpose.

"Well, well, if it isn't the infamous Archer. What a fancy display you showed us earlier," Shirou heard a voice, but it seemed to come from a distance. A few seconds later though, he feel two sets of rope tightening around his body and ankles as someone approached.

"Do you remember me?" That person, a man, asked as he bent down, trying to look under the hood. He shouldn't be able to, since Eleanor had added some extra protections. Shirou tried to answer, but he still couldn't open his mouth yet.

"Couldn't speak, eh?" The man continued. "Doesn't matter. Let me remind you, I'm the Auror that you had kindly used as a shield when you resisted arrest during the World Cup."

_Ah, that one. Was his name Dawlish? _Shirou thought, vaguely recall the Auror.

"You know, I probably should just stun you and turn you in. But since there are only the two of us here…" Dawlish drawled. "...How about me having some payback first?"

Before Shirou's mind could understand what exactly did that mean, he was already kicked hard in the stomach and doubled over. The shock from the pain made him regain a little of his consciousness, but still wasn't enough to break free from the rope that was binding him.

"That's right, I want you to stay conscious when I do it. That one is for punching me," said Dawlish mockingly. "Where is your big attitude now, kid? You think you can disrespecting the laws and get away with it? We will continue this, but first, let me take a look at your face."

_Damn, come on, me, _Shirou's mind screamed. His analysis told him that it was still a couple more minutes until he could move again. It would be too late able to stop his identity from being exposed. As his vision get clearer, he could see Dawlish's hand reaching out to him.

"_Stupefy," _the moment Dawlish touched the hem of the hood, however, a voice came from behind accompanied by a flash of red light struck him squarely on his back. The Auror then fell unconscious, making a loud 'thud' as his body hit the ground.

* * *

Daphne Greengrass was shaking like crazy. Her wand were still pointing forward. She couldn't believe what she just did. She just stunned an Auror for Merlin's sake. If words about this got out then she was definitely screwed.

_Why the hell did I do that? What was I thinking? _She thought in panic, looking at the unconscious Auror on the ground. Just ahead of him was Archer, sitting immobile and bound by two set of rope. Swallowing audibly, Daphne then gathered her courage and stepped closer.

"Erm… Are you alright?" She asked, surprised at how timid her voice sounded. However, Archer didn't reply. Daphne then remembered that the back of his neck was hit just earlier when she was watching from the roof. Maybe it was the reason that he couldn't speak, or move yet.

_Is...Isn't this my chance? _Thought Daphne, looking around nervously to make sure that nobody was around before turning back to the person in white and blue. He was such an enigma. She'd just seen him fight, and it impressed her deeply. Was he even human at all? Was he even _safe_?

Many questions started swirling around as Daphne stared at Archer. In the end, she decided that if, by any chance, the person in front of her was working with her father, then he couldn't be that dangerous.

_Besides, he'd just saved me and everyone. I have the right to know who my savior is, right? _She concluded, knowing all too well that it was just an excuse to satisfy her curiosity, but it didn't matter. Reaching out with a shaky hand, Daphne could almost touch the white hood before Archer suddenly spoke up, startling her and made her jump backward.

"Please don't," he mumbled weakly. However, his voice were clearly altered by magical means.

"My apologize," said Daphne hesitantly after calming down.

"It's okay," Archer answered. "You should get out of here. Being seen with me and a downed Auror isn't something you want to happen."

"But… How about you?" She asked.

"I will be fine. My senses are returning. Another minute or two and I'll be able to escape."

"I...I want to ask you something first."

"There's no time," Archer slowly shook his head. "I can feel them approaching. You should go."

"That's…" Daphne opened her mouth, but shut it right away. He was right, lingering here would lead to some inexplicable questions. Groaning in frustration, she then raised her wand again and cast 'Finite' two time, releasing Archer from the ropes that were binding him before walking away. Once she reached the corner, however, Daphne turned around once more and said.

"Thank you for saving my sister...and me, I guess."

She left immediately afterward, feeling her cheeks heated up a little. If Daphne had stayed behind for just a bit longer though, the she would have seen a small smile forming on Archer's lips under his hood.

* * *

For the next few days after the horrifying Hogsmeade trip, Archer's appearance was almost the only topic of discussion that could be heard around Hogwarts. Apparently, after his fight with the Daywalkers, his reputation had turned to a more positive page in the eyes of everyone, with the exception of some certain Slytherins.

The mysterious vigilante aside, Shirou had returned to his daily life within the castle. He still remembered being cornered on the day of the attack after returning to the school, by Hermione Granger and the two Weasleys, asking about his condition. Seeing their relieved expression once he told them that he was fine, Shirou couldn't help but felt the guilt inside him bubbling again. Despite the way he treated them, they were still considering him their friend, and that made his stomach twisted painfully every time he thought about it.

On a side note, after a little digging around, Shirou found out that the three of them, plus Draco Malfoy, were at the Shrieking Shack that day. Once they saw the sign of the attack, they dumped Malfoy and rushed back to help, but was stopped by Professor Moody before they could get inside the village. That explained why all of them escaped unscathed. However, once asked what they were doing with Malfoy all the way up to the Shack, they just answered vaguely before switching topic and talked about weather or homework.

On the following day's morning, a copy of the Daily Prophet was delivered to Shirou during breakfast. It was obvious that something as big as a Daywalkers attack on Hogwarts students couldn't be covered, thus the article about said fiasco had been given the entire first page and half of the second page. Above the title was two big pictures, one of a Daywalker, and the other about the fight between Archer and the horde's leader.

According to the official report, there were seven people, including three Aurors, lost their lives that day. Reading the article only served to make Shirou's anger toward Adam Greengrass surface again. The nerve of that man. He freaking knew about the attack beforehand and didn't bother to warn anyone, all in the name of his own agenda. Shirou hadn't heard about him ever since that night in the common room, but he was ready to tear that man a new hole once they met.

Returning to the present, Shirou was doing his daily routine of exercises near the Hogwart's lake. The last encounter with that Daywalker reminded him of how weak he still was. If Shirou was still in his original body, then that monster shouldn't even be a challenge. However, as he was now, the only way for him to defeat it was to sniping from afar with Hrunting, Caladbolg II, or anything effective against vampires in general. Either that or he would have to train his body harder in order to remove the disadvantage forced onto him whenever his opponent got him into close range combat.

Naturally, to do so, he would have to practice harder than ever, but Shirou just couldn't put his mind into it. He'd received some worrisome news over the past few days and was still in the progress of digesting the information.

First, the suicide cases. Of course, Adam still hadn't got back to him yet, and the assignment in Hogsmeade turned out to be completely worthless when the cases were concerned. However, it had become a habit for Shirou to expecting suicide people every morning when he opened the Daily Prophet during breakfast. The strange thing was, it suddenly stopped one day. There was nothing the following day, or the day after that either, as if whoever was behind those cases suddenly took a break. At first, it confused Shirou to no end, but made him feel a little relieved at the same time. However, after thinking about it more thoroughly, he finally noticed something that made him shiver and his stomach clenched in horror.

It was exactly nineteen days, from the day of the first case, which was also the day he arrived at Hogwarts, until now. Nineteen days, nineteen cases, nineteen dead people. That particular number keep sticking on his mind and refused to go away. Shirou's suspicion was right. This had to have something to do with the raid at the World Cup.

The second news was even more urgent in another way. On the same day as the attack, when he finally got back to the dorm and got changed, Shirou noticed that something had gone missing from his attire.

The Marauders' Map had disappeared from his inner pocket.

_That was bad news, _thought Shirou, gritting his teeth. He'd tried to look for it all over, from the bathroom to the dorm. He even took out all the content of his trunk to search but didn't find anything. It was incredibly careless of him to lose the map. Who knew where it could end up now. If it fell into the hand of the wrong people…

Shaking his head, Shirou then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. After all, at first glance, the map looked just like a normal piece of parchment. One had to be prana sensitive, like him, in order to figure out its true nature just from looking. Even then, it would take them quite a long time, if ever, to reverse engineer it in order to unlock its functions. It was entirely possible that Shirou would be long gone by the time that happened. Before he went, he would make sure to inform Dumbledore of the map's existence so that the old man could have appropriate countermeasures.

Opening his eyes again, Shirou finally decided that the session was over. If he couldn't concentrate on it, then there was no point in continuing, not to mention that it could be dangerous. On his way back to the castle, he spotted Daphne Greengrass walking a little ahead of him, and remembering how he hadn't got the chance to ask her about the day of the attack.

"Hello, Greengrass," he greeted, quickening his pace to catch up with her.

Hearing his voice, the Slytherin girl stopped and turned around. When she saw him, her eyes widened a little. But the surprised expression was gone just a moment later.

"What do you need, Potter?" she asked. Her voice was the usual icy cold tone, completely different from the time he talked to her under the guise of Archer.

"I just want to ask if you are alright," Shirou scratched his head, now wondering why did he even wanted to talk to her in the first place. However, since she - kind of - saved him from certain doom, and he'd got to see another side of hers, Shirou thought that the least he could do was to make sure that she was alright. Living through an attack like that was the kind of experience that could scar a person forever.

"Why wouldn't I be alright?" She replied with another question, while looking at him like he was some kind of alien.

"Well, you know, since you were also in Hogsmeade that day…"

"Really, Potter?" Daphne rolled her eyes. "Almost a week after the deed and you asked if I was alright just now?"

"Look, I'm sorry if I offended you," Shirou held up his hands and took a step back. "I've been wanting to talk to you, but it wasn't easy. In fact, this is the first time I've seen you without any of your housemate."

"Then you haven't looked hard enough," Daphne said. "And why are you concerning yourself with me anyway? We aren't friends, aren't even acquaintance for that matter. Just two strangers who have talked to each other a few times."

"I…" Shirou opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. After a few seconds, he finally relented.

"Alright. I'm sorry for bothering you. Good day, Greengrass," he sighed and turned away. However, Shirou was only able to take three steps before being called.

"Wait a sec," Daphne's voice came from behind him. "If I answer your question, would you answer mine as well?"

"You must be kidding," Shirou turned back and covered his face with his palm. "I was just asking if you were alright. Do you really need to turn it into some kind of favor? That McCoy too, is it in the Slytherin blood or something?"

"Pardon, who is McCoy?" Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"Mc… Oh, that's Malfoy. Sorry, I seem to get into the habit of calling him that way," Shirou waved his hand apologetically. As he glanced at the girl in front of him, he couldn't make out the look she was giving him. It looked like half of her mind wanted to scold him for doing something so ridiculous, while the other half was trying to hold back a smile from showing on her face.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, Potter," finally, Daphne said. She then hesitated a little before continuing. "And I'm fine. Thank you for asking. So is my sister, she was a little shaken, but who wasn't?"

"That's true," Shirou smiled, feeling relieved to see her opened up a little. "Please send my regard to her."

"Will do," Daphne nodded. "Now is my turn."

"You were serious about that?"

"Of course, idiot," she glared at him. "Say, where were you when the attack happened? I saw you getting into Hog's Head when we first arrived, but that pub was one of the places that were struck directly by the Daywalkers."

Shirou tried not to let the surprise show on his face. Just as Adam said, Daphne Greengrass was a very observant girl.

"I left that pub long before the attack happened," Shirou said. "I wanted some time alone, but the Hog's Head was more crowded than normal, so I went back to the castle."

"I see. That may explain why you didn't show up during the attack. From what I heard about you, I think you should be one of the first to rush out and fight those monster yourself," Daphne finally said after giving him a long, calculating look.

"Sorry to disappoint you then," Shirou shrugged. "I guess it's time for me to run. The next class is starting soon and I still have to take a shower first."

"And I don't need to know about that. Goodbye, idiot," said Daphne as she turned away and left.

Looking after her until she disappeared behind a corner, Shirou shook his head in resignation and head for his dorm. It wasn't until he reached the Fat Lady's portrait that he realized that something was off.

"Wait a minute…" He mumbled to himself. "Did she just call me an idiot?"

* * *

"What an idiot," said Daphne as she placed a stack of books down onto a desk in the library.

"Who?" Her friend Tracey asked without looking up from the book she was reading, some kind of romance novel. For the most part, she'd recovered from the attack and returned to her normal self. Daphne still remembered how angry and worried Tracey was at her the day after the incident. She had the right to be though. Being left alone while her friend was out risking her life wasn't the most pleasant experience. However, while being genuinely sorry, Daphne didn't regret what she did. If she didn't get out there to find her sister, Astoria might have died. Just the thought of that was enough to make her shiver involuntarily.

"Potter. I just talked to him," she answered.

"You talked to him?" Apparently, the topic was interesting enough to grab Tracey's interest as she finally put down her book.

"He sought me out," Daphne shrugged. "Saying he wanted to ask if I was alright."

"Oh…" Tracey grinned mischievously, covering her mouth with her hand. "Someone's worrying about you."

"Yes, you," Daphne said simply.

"You know what I mean, Daphne."

"Do I?" Asked Daphne. "It seems to me that someone is taking an unusual interest in him."

"I told you it's not like that," Tracey protested, blushing a little as her teasing backfired.

"Then how is it like?"

"That's… Ugh, never mind. Just you watch. I'll get my revenge next time," she stuck out her tongue and picked up her book again.

"I'll be looking forward to that," Daphne said, grinned a little and opened an Ancient Runes book. It wasn't that she was doing any essay, however.

After being cornered by the Daywalker on the roof of that building, Daphne finally realized how incompetent she actually was. In school, her grade was just below the know-it-all Granger, and she could cast many more spells compared to any student from her year. However, as demonstrated, none of those could even come close to stop something like that monster. That weakness almost cost her, and more importantly, her sister's life. Ever since that day, Daphne had vowed to herself that she wouldn't let it happen again.

Her first solution was to learn how to cast Fiendfyre, but after thinking about it, Daphne decided that it was too dangerous for someone of her level. The tremendous required magical power aside, that spell was extremely hard to control, and could become a disaster if she made even the smallest error. Therefore, Daphne decided to put that idea onto the shelf for later use, and turned her attention toward Runes and Arithmancy. While those two subject took time to learn, no one could deny their usefulness and wide range of applications.

That ward used by Professor McGonagall during the attack was a perfect example. It was rather strong and very quick to build. If Daphne had known how to make it, she and Astoria wouldn't have to go through what they did. That one time, they were lucky because of Archer's intervention, but there was no guarantee that the same thing would happen again the next time she found herself getting into trouble.

"So, what else did you two talk about?" Asked Tracey after awhile.

"Well, since he was asking me a question, I took that opportunity to ask him something as well," said Daphne.

"And?"

"I asked him where he was during the attack. He said that he'd returned to the castle before that."

"He said that?" Tracey, for the second time, put down her book and sat straight up, looking at Daphne like she was joking. "But that's…"

"A lie? Yes. That's why I called him an idiot," Daphne answered. She knew for certain that on that day, Potter was the last person to return to the castle, much later than everyone else. No one, except for Granger and her friends, seemed to care about his absence. Originally, Daphne didn't think much about it either. She was just curious where he was hiding during the incident. And then the idiot decided to lie to her.

_He must have thought that no one saw him when he got back, _thought Daphne. Unfortunately for Potter, she was on her way to check on Astoria in the Hospital Wing when his carriage arrived. She was gone when he finally got to the castle though. Maybe that was why he didn't know that she'd seen him.

"But why did he lie?" Tracey frowned. She then laughed. "Please don't tell me that he was afraid of being mocked."

"Mocked? For what?" Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"For hiding, of course. He was the Boy-Who-Lived, Vanquisher of the Dark Lord and all, you know," Tracey shrugged. "Also, I was just joking. Didn't think you'd take it that seriously."

"Ah, right. Sorry," Daphne said. "Though I don't think that could be the truth. Potter wasn't McCoy after all."

"McCoy?"

"That's how Potter call Malfoy," she grinned. "Suit that ponce quite well, don't you agree?"

That made Tracey burst into laughter.

"Indeed," she said after stopped laughing. "Looking at Potter, no one would have guess that he also had a sense of humor. Still doesn't explain why he lied though."

"I don't know, why don't you go ask him?" Daphne said.

"Why do I have to go?" Tracey asked.

"Because you're interested in him. And from what I see, you two seem rather close."

"Are you going to tease me again?" She huffed.

"I think I am," Daphne smiled at her friend.

"Well, it's not working," Tracey said before picking up her book again. "But maybe you're right. I'll try to ask him the next time we talk."

After that, silence fell between them. Daphne knew, and she was sure that her friend knew too, that there was more to Harry Potter than met the eyes. Tracey might not really care about it, but it'd been bugging Daphne for awhile now as odd things keep happening.

Firstly, her father's sudden interest in Harry Potter. Not long after that, Archer, who seemed to be working with her father, showed up. The timing of his arrival was rather close to the time Potter got his amnesia too, if he was indeed the one who interfered with the fight at Diagon Alley. There was also the obvious change in Potter's appearance.

Not to mention, there had been a rumor going on since the World Cup fiasco, that Archer was actually a teenage boy...

Of course, all of those were just speculations. Daphne couldn't be sure if the two of them were really working together or not. Archer's arrival at the two attacks, one of which her father knew about while he was at the other himself, seemed to support the theory. However, there was still a big chance that everything was just a huge coincidence in the end.

_There's no way that Potter could actually be Archer, is there? _Daphne couldn't help but wondered.

**End of Chapter 13.**


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: **_**A new update. Thank you all for your continued support, even after my long break.**

****Read this please****

**I just want to inform anyone who hadn't noticed, that I've already posted chapter 13 as well. Since it came out on the same day as chapter 12, some of you might have missed it.**

**That's all. Enjoy!**

* * *

'_**Archer' - Hero or Threat?**_

_By Rita Skeeter._

_Dear readers,_

_I have no doubt that until now, all of you have at least heard about the horrifying attack of the Daywalkers in the peaceful village Hogsmeade. First of all, allow me to send my condolence to any witch or wizard that lost family members in the incident._

_Back to the main topic. If you've known about the details of the attack, which you should, if you've been following the Prophet for the past few days, then you would surely know that the mysterious vigilante - Archer - had showed himself again. And just like with the raid at the World Cup a few months prior, he had 'saved the day', leaving behind an unbelievable number of death count._

_Now, I'm sure a lot of readers also agree with me, that since all of the deaths caused by Archer this time were Daywalkers, he was just doing everyone a favor. However, let's look past the surface and see what is really happening, and you will ask yourself the same question that I've been asking, that whether or not Archer is actually the hero that people are making him out to be._

_According to some of the eyewitness at the attack, and the photos that have been captured, Archer was seen fighting with a Daywalker, not with magic nor wand, but physical combat using swords. Let's set aside the questionable method for the moment, I can't help but wonder, how in Merlin's name that a human could acquire enough physical strength and speed to go against a Daywalker?_

_Some Potion Master, or anyone who knows their potions, would no doubt argue that there is a drought that can give its user boosted strength for a limited amount of time. Yes, I've done my research, and said drought is called the 'Drought of the Giant'. However, its use and production has been forbidden, since beside the above mentioned effect, the drought also costs the user his own sanity._

_So, did Archer use it? Maybe, maybe not. And while jumping down from the top of the Owlery without any protection seems quite insane to some people, the Aurors that had a direct encounter which him at the Quidditch World Cup might say otherwise._

"_Is that guy insane? Maybe he is, but not in the sense of losing one's ability to control his action and behavior," an unnamed Auror commented. "His actions are outrageous, but the way Archer talks and does things indicates that he's completely normal, if not a little arrogant."_

_Auror Dawlish even confirmed that there's the possibility of Archer having a partner in crime. According to him, he was stunned from behind after being able to talk to the vigilante during the attack in Hogsmeade and was convincing him to surrender._

_All in all, I'm fairly certain that a person with his mind destroyed by potion wouldn't be able to have a partner that he can work with._

_If that's the case, then where is the source of Archer's inhuman strength? Oh wait, did I just say 'inhuman'. I guess I did. What if he is just another Daywalker, or some other kind of creature that is naturally strong? If he really is, then I'm certain that many trusted and famous people within our community will agree, that any kind of magical creature like that is dangerous unsupervised._

_Of course, what I've stated here is just speculations on my part. But I do so, with the best interest of our community in mind, to warn the readers of a potential threat. After all, if Archer really is human, or if he uses a more innocent, undiscovered way to strengthen himself, then he would have nothing to hide from._

* * *

After reading the article about Archer in the latest issue of the Daily Prophet during breakfast, Shirou was having mixed feeling. A part of him was confused, not knowing why he was being attacked this time around. On the other hand, the accusations against him was so ridiculous that it made him want to burst into laughter.

_Well, I guess it's the same no matter where you go, _he thought, folding the newspaper and set it aside. After all, if EMIYA, who had spent his entire life helping people, could get accused falsely and executed, then this shouldn't come as a surprise. Originally, Shirou was just looking, to see if there was anymore suicide case. He could already predicted the result though, as nineteen dead people was already a nice number to stop.

Having finished his meal, Shirou leaned back against his seat to relax and took the chance to look around. If he were to be honest, Shirou had to admit that he was just a little curious to see how everyone would react to the article. Whoever this Rita Skeeter was, she was quite a journalist, as his reinforced hearing were picking up around the hall all kind of talk and mixed opinions about Archer. However, as his gaze arrived at the Ravenclaw table, Shirou suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He didn't have to search long for its source though, as from said table's far end, a third year witch with dirty blond hair had been staring at him intently, ignoring all the commotion going on around her. Shirou met her eyes for just a second before turning away. There was something in her that made him feel exposed, and Shirou didn't like that.

His gaze then settled on the Slytherin table, where he caught Tracey's eyes and the witch winked at him before returning to talk with Daphne, who only cared enough to spare him an indifferent glance.

Finally, he looked at the staff table, just in time to see Dumbledore stood up and said.

"Attention, please."

Immediately, all the talking within the Great Hall died down, replaced by an absolute silence as all the students and professors alike turned toward the Headmaster, who gave them a gentle smile before continuing.

"Good morning to you all," he said. "By now, I'm sure that all of you have eaten and are ready for a productive day. So this old man won't be taking much of your time. I just want to announce that, in order to prepare for the Triwizards Tournament, Hogwarts will have the pleasure of welcoming representatives from two most famous magical institutes in Europe beside Hogwarts - Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. They will arrive here at the start of October, which is only four days from now, and will stay with us for the rest of the year in order to prepare for the competition. I hope that during their stay, our students will welcome and make them feel like this is their own home. Thank you."

The moment Dumbledore finished his speech, professor McGonagall started clapping. She was soon followed by the rest of the Hogwarts residence. From his seat, Shirou felt like the whole Hall was shaking under the thunderous sound of hundreds pair of hands clapping at the same time. It soon died down, however, as people started getting up to get to their own classes. Shirou wasn't an exception, though the moment he picked up his school bag, came a voice calling his name from behind.

"Mister Potter. A moment please."

Turning around, Shirou saw that Professor McGonagall was standing in front of him with a hard expression on her face. Wondering what trouble he'd gotten into this time, Shirou threw the bag over his shoulder before going over to meet her. From the corner of his eye, he could see Hermione gave him a worried glance when they passed each other.

"You want to see me, professor?" Shirou asked, looking at his head of house.

"The Headmaster wishes to speak with you, Mister Potter. Please report to his office immediately. I've already obtained permission for your absence from Professor Sprout," Professor McGonagall said, and from the expression she was showing, one could see that she definitely didn't approve of him missing class, regardless of the reason.

"I will. Thank you, professor," Shirou smiled before turning away. He could have sworn that he saw the corner of the older witch's mouth moved, just slightly, into a smile.

* * *

"Come in, please," Dumbledore's voice came from behind the door after shirou knocked on it a few times. He then pushed the door and stepped in the familiar office with all kind of strange silver artifacts lined up neatly on the shelves in the back of the room.

"Good morning, professor," said Shirou.

"I wish the same for you, Shirou, and just Dumbledore is fine. Come, have a seat," Dumbledore gave him a warm smile, gesturing toward the chair on the other side of the table, across from him. He then continued after Shirou had seated properly.

"I'm sorry for asking you to skip class. But as you've noticed, I'm rather busy lately in order to prepare for the tournament, as well as some other businesses. Actually, I have a meeting with Mister Crouch this morning, but he postponed it for some reason."

"It's quite alright," Shirou nodded. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"A couple of things actually. Do you want some Lemon Drop?" asked Dumbledore, offering him a bowl filled with yellow candy.

"Thanks, I'll take one."

"You're welcome. Honestly, you're the first one ever to accept my candy offer. I wonder why…" The old man mumbled. "But that isn't why we're here today. First thing first, and this one is a bit of good news, really. Please wait a moment."

He then reached under his desk and took out a black box. In the meantime, Shirou tossed his Lemon Drop in his mouth. The moment it touched his tongue though, he immediately understood why no one ever wanted to try one of those. It was so sour that it made his eyes all teary.

"Wh...What is this?" Looking at the box, Shirou asked after he could feel his tongue again.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Dumbledore smiled.

Raising an eyebrow, Shirou then took the box in his hands and took off the cover, revealing a knife inside. It was made of silver with wooden, leather bound handle. The blade itself was a little zagged and covered with strange looking chains of Runes.

"Is this…?"

"Your alternative to a wand," Dumbledore nodded. "It took some gold and a little favor for the Goblins, but I finally managed to get my hand on it."

"Is it okay if I take it?" Asked Shirou while giving the blade a throughout Analysis, unsurprised to see himself unable to figure out anything about it other than the fact that it was made of silver. After all, it was made by the Goblins, using their technique and kind of Runes.

"Of course. That's the whole point of bringing it here. In my hand it's no better than a fruit knife."

"But something like this…" Shirou frowned. "...at least let me pay you back."

"Let's not worry about that right now," Dumbledore held up his hand. "Go on, give it a try. We need to see if it works or not. If not...well, let's hope that it won't happen. Do you still remember the Levitation Charm? Let's try it with this candy bowl right here."

"I do," Shirou nodded and raised the knife. When he tried to cast the spell, however, instead of floating like it was supposed to, the bowl was shot from the table, almost hit Dumbledore square in the face before crashing into the wall behind and shattered.

"Well, looks like it worked," said Dumbledore, not the least fazed by the incident.

"I...I'm sorry," Shirou stuttered. He knew it was going to work the moment he read the incantation, but the result wasn't what he was hoping for.

"It's okay," said Dumbledore as he waved his own wand. The bowl was fixed in an instant, floating back to its original place and all the scattered candy jumped back to where they belonged.

"Now, that's good for a first try," he then continued, nodding his head. "The incantation is good, the power is excellent. However, your wand movement is a little off, and I have a feeling that your intent wasn't quite true."

"Is that so?" Shirou smiled awkwardly. He _might _have had the wrong intent the moment he remembered the taste of those Lemon Drops.

"Indeed, but it isn't something that can't be fixed. However, a problem remains… Here, allow me to take care of the rest."

Dumbledore then tapped the knife with his wand, changing it into a wooden wand. Shirou knew that it was only an illusion created by magic though.

"This is to prevent people from questioning it," said the Headmaster. "It's identical to Harry's original wand, so you can use it without worry."

"Thank you," Shirou smiled. Having a wand that he could use was a huge step forward, though he suspect that it would take him a long time to be able to learn all the essential spells.

"Don't forget to practice often. Judging by what I've seen from you, you should consider focusing more on Transfiguration rather than Charm. But you might also try them out and decide yourself," Dumbledore returned the smile. "Now that problem is out of the way. Let us move on to a more recent event."

"I'm listening."

Dumbledore, however, didn't say anything right away. Instead, he just sat and looked at Shirou for a few seconds before starting to speak.

"I see you've been busy making a name for yourself lately, Shirou. Enough to attract rather...infamous journalists, like Rita Skeeter."

Shirou sat still and listened. He knew that this conversation would come sooner or later. There is no use denying it either. If anything, he'd showed his trademark weapons during the fight with the Daywalkers, the same weapons that the wizard in front of him had seen on the first time they met each other.

"I assure you that isn't my intention," finally he said.

"I'm sure it isn't," Dumbledore said. "But I still feel the need to speak to you. As you can see, you're making some rather dangerous enemies."

"If you're talking about the Daywalkers…"

"I'm not talking about them, though I do agree that they're dangerous," Dumbledore interrupted him. "I'm talking about the press, the media and the law enforcement force. While there are no direct harm that can come from them, they can seriously hamper you in the long way. Just a few days ago, you were a hero in the eye of the people, and what guess happened after Rita's article today?"

"Half of them think I'm an insane potion addict. The other half believe that I'm not human," Shirou snorted.

"That's about right," Dumbledore nodded. "There are still people out there who believe in you, but they are the minority now. Don't underestimate the power of the media, especially when it comes to Rita Skeeter. That… rather unpleasant woman, is very good in what she does. I myself have been her victim for more than once. Thankfully, I managed to control the damage before anything happened."

"I can see that," sighed Shirou. "Honestly, I've never given much thought about it. As long as the people are safe, I couldn't careless what they think of me."

"A very noble attitude," Dumbledore smiled. "Though if you think about it, many advantages can come from having support of the people. Your voice will have more weight, for instance. You can rally people, not to fight, but to warn them of the incoming dangers, so that they will be prepared. Because, forgive me for not being very humble, but even myself can't be everywhere at once."

"You have a point," Shirou said, looking intently at the man in front of him. "I'll be more careful from now on."

"Not making any more enemy is a good start."

"About that, I agree, but can't promise anything," Shirou grinned.

"You can at least try to give it some effort," Dumbledore chuckled lightly into his hand. He then regained his solemn expression. "One last thing, Shirou, I want to talk to you about Adam Greengrass."

"What does that have anything to do with what we were discussing?"

"Nothing, but I'm under the impression that you, or rather, Archer, is working under his directions," the Headmaster said, looking straight at Shirou.

"I have no idea," Shirou shrugged, trying to keep his face straight. "Archer only showed up two times, and I also presented in both. Isn't it more likely that I figured out about the attack and acted by myself?"

"I suppose that's true," sighed Dumbledore after taking his gaze off of Shirou. "Just remember, Adam Greengrass is more than meet the eyes."

"Aren't we all?" Shirou asked.

"Yes, we are. You can go now. Goodbye, Shirou. It was nice talking to you," the Headmaster finished his speech and gestured toward the door. Realizing that the conversation was over, Shirou said goodbye to him before leaving the office.

_That old man is just making everything more confusing, _he thought and sighed. It wasn't until Shirou reached the other side of the gargoyle statue that he remembered not asking Dumbledore about their agreement of him stopping to act as Harry Potter.

* * *

Shirou's next class was, much to his delight, Transfiguration. It was the perfect chance for him to try out his new wand. To be totally honest, he'd had enough of the subtle, but sad and disappointed glances that Professor McGonagall gave him every once in awhile.

Taking a turn to reach the Entrance Hall while being deep in thoughts, Shirou almost slammed into someone who was already there. Luckily, his reflex helped him as he stopped himself right before the two of them both landed on the ground.

"Harry, you scared me," it was Hermione.

"I'm sorry," said Shirou. "We should get moving though. You wouldn't want to be late in Professor McGonagall's class."

"Wait," Hermione called as he walked away. Shirou stopped and turned to face her.

"Can I help you with anything, Hermione?" He asked.

"Erm…" She looked at him hesitantly. "How are you lately?"

"I'm fine. If that's all…"

"Wait, no… I just want to know if you've got into any trouble with Professor Dumbledore…"

Shirou raised an eyebrow at the question. Why did she keep doing this? She wasn't making it easier for anyone, really…

On the other hand, seeing Hermione like that made it extremely difficult for him to just shrug her off.

"Nothing of the sort," Shirou sighed. "We can talk on the way, you know, or else, Professor McGonagall is going to chew our heads off."

"Oh...Okay," it looked like his response was completely unexpected, as it left Hermione wide eyed for a moment before a bright smile showed on her face.

"So?" She asked as they moved through the Entrance Hall.

"Like I said, I didn't get into any trouble," said Shirou. "Professor Dumbledore just figured out what was making me unable to cast spells and fixed it."

"Does that mean you can use your wand properly now?" Asked Hermione, joy apparent in her eyes.

"I think so. Still, I have no memory of any spell, so I will have to start from scratch."

"That's great," she exclaimed happily. "I can help you with that if you want. I still have all of my notes from first year. I will just have to ask my parent to owl it for me…"

"Hermione," Shirou raised a hand to stop the bushy haired witch as they both stopped on their tracks. "I appreciate your concern, but can you please leave me to my own business?"

As the words left his mouth, Shirou felt that his gut twisted painfully inside his stomach. He then braced himself for the sight of the girl in front of him break down into tears, once again with him as the cause.

However, to his utter surprise. Hermione just stared at him for a moment with a slightly shocked expression, before her eyes narrowed as she glared at him.

"How can you still say things like that, Harry?" She said. From the tone of her voice, one could see that she was furious. "You, Ron and I have been friends for years. You're our best friend, my first friend, and you think you can just walk away from us like that?"

"But...I…" Now it was Shirou's turn to stutter. The unexpected turn of event left him speechless.

"If you're going to be like that, then I'd like an explanation," Hermione continued, taking a step closer to Shirou as he unconsciously took one back. "And don't give me that 'I prefer hanging out with Malfoy' nonsense. I haven't seen you with him ever since that day when you left us. You don't _hate _being with us, admit it. We had been under the same roof for weeks during the summer and I didn't see you complain. Not even once."

"That's…"

"I don't think we've done anything to warrant that treatment, Harry," said Hermione. Her voice and her eyes became softer. "But if we did, we would like to know about it, so we can fix it. Isn't that what friends do?"

"You've done nothing wrong, Hermione," finally, Shirou sighed. "It's just… we can't be friends anymore."

"Why?" She demanded.

"I can't tell you that. Not now at least."

Silence then fell between them. Hermione just kept staring at him. Shirou could see her hands balled into fists and her nails digged into her palm. However, after awhile, she relax, sighed, then turned away.

"We won't accept that, Harry," she said, her back facing him. "You're our friends. And if you don't want to tell us the reason, we will keep on pestering you until you tell us, so that we can fix it."

With that, Hermione walked away, leaving Shirou dumbfounded, looking after her.

"What's with that girl…" After getting out of his shock, Shirou sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Strangely enough, she wasn't completely wrong. It was true that he didn't hate being with them, not in the least.

* * *

Lucky for Shirou that he managed to arrive at Transfiguration class right before Professor McGonaGall stepped in. Hurriedly getting himself a seat in the back row, Shirou then pulled out his textbook and parchments, along with some quills and, of course, his new wand.

"Good morning, class," McGonagall said after sweeping her gaze across the room to make sure that everyone was ready. "During previous lessons, we have finally covered the Enlargement Charm. Today, we're going to learn the opposite, the Shrinking Charm. As its name suggest, this charm will make its target become smaller, if cast right, of course."

Taking a little break, she then continued.

"Essentially, it isn't any different from the Enlargement Charm, but instead of focusing your intent to make the target bigger, we do just the opposite. Instructions can be found in your textbook. Read it thoroughly, then I will answer any question that you may have. After that, we will move onto the practical part."

For the next fifteen minutes, the entire class was silent, except for the occasional sound of a page being turned. Just like the others, Shirou was concentrating on his own book. He was trying to remember the wand movements and the incantation, since aside from those, the rest wasn't anything new to him, who had been practicing to focus his intent and direct his prana ever since he was a kid.

After everyone was done reading, Professor McGonagall looked around the class once more and asked if they had any question. When no one said anything, a frown showed on her face but she didn't comment on it. Instead, she just gave each student a rat to start practicing with.

Before doing the spell himself, Shirou wanted to see how other students were doing first. According to his experience, the first one to have any success would be Hermione, followed by Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff. The last one to be able to cast the spell, not counting himself, would be Ron, or occasionally, Seamus Finnigan.

With that in mind, he then took a glance around, only to see Hermione looking at him from her seat. She quickly averted her gaze when she saw him looking, however. Next to her, Ron was taking turn to look at both her and Shirou, confusion evident on his face. Finally, the redhead just shrugged and turned back to his own assignment.

Just as Shirou had predicted, Hermione was the first one to have result. From where he was sitting, Shirou couldn't see it, but her could hear Professor McGonagall said that Hermione's rat shrunk just a little after her third try, although it was still a long way to go until it reached the required size.

Deciding that he'd seen enough, Shirou looked back at his own rat, raising his wand and focus on what he wanted to happen. He then did the wand movements and read the incantation. However, his rat remained unchanged.

_What did I do wrong? _Shirou frowned. He could feel his prana went from his Circuits, through the wand in his hand and outside without any obstruction, yet nothing happened.

"Your wrist movements were too stiff, Potter."

Hearing someone said that from the seat next to him, Shirou turned over to see a Hufflepuff girl with red hair. If his memory wasn't wrong, her name was Susan Bones. He'd seen her many times since they had several classes together, but they had never actually talked.

"Pardon?" He asked.

"I said your wrist movements were too stiff. Here, let me show you," Susan repeated, scooting a little closer and performed the spell on her own rat. Ironically, nothing happened either.

"Eh?" She stared blankly at the result of her spell a second before her mind registered what just happened. Once it did, Shirou could see her face starting to heat up.

"That's weird. I was sure that it would work. I've been practicing this for days," Susan stuttered as her face got redder and redder.

"Look, it's okay. Everyone makes mistake. I can't even cast a decent spell ever since the start of this term," Shirou assured her. Half of his mind was trying to suppress the laughter, since it would be too cruel to the poor girl.

"Ah… You're right," she looked at him and smiled bashfully. "Sorry, I just wanted to help you."

"It's alright, really," Shirou smiled at her. "You just said my wrist was too stiff, right? Let me try again."

And so he did, this time paying more attention to the wand movements. To his, and the entire class's surprise, after he read the incantation and pointed the wand at the rat, it actually shrunk and ended up with only a third of its original size.

"You did it," Susan exclaimed.

"Thanks to you," Shirou replied with a smile. It was then that he heard Professor McGonagall's voice.

"First the essay, and now this. Can I be assured that this is indeed an improvement, Mister Potter?" The old witch said, her expression was still how it normally was. However, Shirou could hear a hint of approval in her voice.

"Yes, Professor," replied Shirou.

"Good, twenty points for Gryffindor. Mister Potter is the first one to success shrinking his rat," McGonagall announced, giving the the slightest smile before continuing her round.

"Congratulation," Susan said. "Now it's my turn. Can't let all of that practice go to waste, you know."

"Thank you," Shirou nodded at her and leaned back against his seat, surprised to see himself feeling a little satisfied. It was the first time he successfully cast any magic, not counting the earlier attempt in Dumbledore's office. Besides, being awarded for it was a little nice, if he had to admit.

Still, maybe it wasn't that hard to explain. Back when he was still a highschool student, Shirou used to have top grades. His exam results were even better than the perfect Tohsaka Rin. Maybe that was the reason why not being able to perform well in a class, regardless of its kind, bothered him so much.

By the end of the lesson, the only people who managed to perform the Shrinking Charm were Shirou and Hermione. Though the bushy haired witch's attempt still wasn't perfect. The good news, at least for Shirou, was that they were excused from having any homework from Professor McGonagall for that day.

* * *

In the evening, Shirou returned the the Gryffindor's common room in higher spirit than usual. He'd just had a rather good day. Seeing that it was still a little early, he was just about to go up to his dorm to take a shower when some strange noises came from the window. Following the source of the noise, Shirou found a owl, which he recognized as the Greengrasses', knocking on the glass with its beak.

After looking around to make sure that no one was paying attention to him, Shirou went over and opened the window. The owl flew in, landed on his left forearm and held out its leg, which had an envelope tied to it. Shirou relieved the owl of the burden, telling it to get back first, before rushing upstairs, where he could read his mail without being watched.

Once he was sitting comfortably on his bed, Shirou opened the envelope. Inside was a small golden key and a piece of parchment. Shirou looked at them both before setting the key aside and read the letter. It said.

_Hello Harry,_

_It's been awhile since the last time we talked. I'm sorry for not being able to contact you sooner, though I assure you that there are very good reasons for it._

_If you've been reading this letter, then you should have received the key as well. It's the key to your own Gringotts vault, which contain five hundred galleons. Those are the payment for your two assignments. Put them to good use, you're going to need it once you stopped acting as Harry Potter._

_On that topic, I still stand by what I said. The name Potter can bring us a huge advantage. However, it's your decision in the end. Do whatever you think is best._

_Also, good job on the last assignment. I was right to believe in you. I'm also sorry for the surprise that I put you through, but I know it simply isn't enough to apology through a letter. So how about we have a meeting tomorrow. Gryffindor fireplace, usual hour._

_I will be waiting for you._

_A.G_

After finishing the letter, Shirou looked at the key next to him. He supposed that Adam was right, that he would really need the money in the future. However, the man still hadn't answer for his action, one that could have caused hundreds of deaths. Shirou decided that until he could hear the man's reasons, he wouldn't use anything inside that vault.

"I can't wait to see you too, Mister Greengrass," he murmured, feeling the anger within him burning once again. Adam better gave him a _very _good reason when they finally talked.

**End of Chapter 14**


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: **_****Read this please****

**I just want to say that I won't be writing Fleur, or any other French character's accent in my story, mostly because I suck at it and don't want to disrupt your reading with gibberish. Just think of it as they were actually using accent during their speech.**

**Thank you, enjoy.**

* * *

"It's good to see you, Harry," right on the appointed time, Adam Greengrass's head appeared inside the Gryffindor's fireplace.

Shirou, who had been waiting patiently on an empty chair, didn't say anything. Instead, he just looked at the man in disdain. Apparently, Adam also realized what was the cause of the treatment he was receiving and sighed.

"I see. You're still angry," he said. "Eleanor said that you was furious, but I don't blame you."

"Indeed, because you're the one to blame," Shirou stood up and said through clenched teeth.

"I'm not denying that."

"Tell me, Adam, did you get anything from the attack?" Said Shirou, glaring at him. "Was it important enough for you to risk the lives of hundreds of people, most of which were children? Because I swear, if it's the way you work…"

A short sword appeared in Shirou's grip, pointing straight at Adam's face as he left his sentence hanging. The older man's eyes widened for a second, before his expression settled into a solemn, business-like one.

"I understand. It seems like I've underestimated the weight of your desire to protect everyone."

"I protect whoever I can. But that's neither here nor there," Shirou growled. "I want to hear your reason."

"My reason is simple, Harry," Adam said, looking straight at him, ignoring the sword. "I've already told you, I need to protect Eleanor. Without her, can you imagine how many more attacks like that will come and catch us unprepared?"

"And you're willing to sacrifice an entire village for that?" Shirou snorted dryly. "You might get your information in the future, but have you ever considered the scenario where I failed? I'm not invincible."

"Now you're underestimating me, Harry," Adam squinted his eyes. "I've seen the memories of your last assignment. I studied them over and over for an entire week until I got a good grasp of your abilities and strength. You think I'd just pitch them against monsters like that blindly?"

"So you've done your study on me, big deal," Shirou gritted his teeth. "If you're that confident in yourself, why the hell are you still failing to see that it wasn't just about me? How about the children, the scar you put on their minds? And did you even take a moment to realize that two of them were your own children, the same two girls that you told me you would protect at all cost?"

"For that, I have already told them not to go, but they didn't listen. I guess I only have myself to blame when my own children don't listen to my words," Adam closed his eyes. "However, just look at the result, Harry. We took a risk, and it paid off. I'm sorry that all those people lost their lives, but in the end, you saved an entire village, and maybe even more in the future…"

"Let me tell you, _we _didn't took the risk. You did. And it wasn't even on your damn life you were risking," Shirou spat out, all the while suppressing the urge to smash his fist on Adam's face. He was close, very close to losing it. The nerve of that man, talking about people's lives like they were just tool to be used.

"I...don't think I can continue working with you anymore, Adam," finally, he said, letting the sword disappear.

"And as usual, I'm not in a position to stop you," Adam sighed. "But I'd like you to consider it. I'll be frank, Harry. You're an amazing fighter, like no one I've seen before. But forgive me, you lack the wit and the experience needed to collect useful information by yourself. I'm sure you know that half of the battle is fought using information alone, and I can give you that."

"I know what you're thinking," he continued after seeing no reply from Shirou. "But coming to Dumbledore for information is a bad move. That man, while being a powerful wizard, was also very good at keeping secrets. If you come to him, you will only get what he wants you to know, making it easier for him to manipulate you."

"You're not exactly different, Adam," Shirou shook his head. "How much information have I got from you? Aside from what I need to complete the assignments and their result, what else did I get? What are the enemy's movements? Heck, what are _our _movements? I don't even know half of your little group, or what the man I'm working with is doing most of the time to prevent, or prepare for the return of Vo...Jones."

"That's because most of us still don't trust you yet, Harry," said Adam. "However, after the last assignment, their opinions are changing for the better. I assure you, that once you joined us full time, you would have access to any information that you may need."

"That's if I'm still interested in joining, which I am not," Shirou glared at him. "Even if I am, how can I even believe in your words? You're not exactly an epitome of truth, you know?"

"I'm well aware of that," Adam nodded. A tired grin showed on his face but it soon faded away. "Alright, I admit that I've taken things a little too far this time, and that you have a point. So let me give you something to make up for it."

"I don't need it," Shirou replied instantly.

"Just hear me out first," Adam said. "How about as a token of trust, I invite you to one of our parties? You'll be able to meet some more members there. And trust me, it's a huge risk for us to bring in someone not from our group. But for this one time, I'll take another risk and put my faith in you."

"Still doesn't change the fact that our ways of working just aren't the same," Shirou shook his head again. "Thanks for your vote of confidence though."

"Actually, that topic will be discussed at our next meeting after the party. That's why I want you to come."

Silence fell between them as Shirou thought about the offer. He was honest when saying that he had no desire to involve himself with Adam or his shady group any longer. On the other hand, they were offering him with information, the kind that Shirou was sure he could never obtain by himself.

_But it isn't right, _a part of his mind retorted. Of course it wasn't right. An entire village was put at risk as a result of Adam's action. While Shirou didn't deny the usefulness of having future info to rely on, surely there could be another way to make sure the villager were safe.

"You don't have to decide right now, Harry," Adam said. "The party isn't until Christmas, just give me an answer before then."

Shirou nodded wordlessly as he didn't know what else to say.

"And finally, I want to thank you for saving my two daughters," the man continued. "Both of them now owe you their lives."

"I have no interest in making them pay me back. They owe me nothing," Shirou said wearily. All he wanted now is for this meeting to end. He needed to be alone to think everything over.

"That's not how Daphne and Astoria look at it," said Adam. "I think that's it for today. I'm looking forward to hear from you, Harry. Goodnight."

Then, without waiting for a reply, Adam's head disappeared from the fireplace before the flame returned to their natural color.

* * *

The following morning, Shirou woke up feeling drained. He was wrong, taking out his anger on Adam didn't make him feel any better. Luckily, it was finally Saturday. That meant no classes for him to worry about, and Shirou had planned to spend the entire day in some isolated place, after his daily routine. He needed to clear his head, and then thought about what he had been offered.

Besides, it wasn't like he had anyone to hang out with anyway.

Since it was still early in the morning, like every other times when he woke up, Shirou slipped out of his bed and into the shared bathroom as quietly as possible. He first went to the sink to brush his teeth and wash his face, feeling the refreshing cold water washed away the last of his sleepiness. When he was done, Shirou looked at himself in the mirror, noticing that the brightness in 'his' green eyes appeared to be dimmer than it was a couple of week ago. Soon, they would lose their color and turn into a shade of grey.

_A shame. I rather liked them the way they are now, _thinking to himself, Shirou then shook his head to suppress the thought that it wasn't actually his body and started heading out.

* * *

A few hours later, Shirou finally managed to finish his morning routine, went back to the dorm for a quick shower and had a quick breakfast. It was finally time for him to disappear into the library, where he wouldn't be disturbed.

_I feel like I've been coming here a lot lately, _thought Shirou as he stepped inside inside Madam Pince's territory, greeting the old librarian and received a curt nod as respond. He then found himself a place in his usual corner, sat down and pulled out his new wand. Ever since he'd got it from Dumbledore, Shirou hadn't got many chances to use it outside of classes, mostly because the only places where the students were allowed to use their wands were, well, the classes, within their common rooms and dorms. Unfortunately, Shirou tended not to stay in any of those places longer than necessary.

On the other hand, since he didn't have any where he had to be today, and he was alone, Shirou supposed that a little test wouldn't hurt. After all, what the professors didn't know about couldn't hurt them.

Pulling out two textbooks from inside if his bag, Shirou then set them side by side on the desk in front of him and, after taking a deep breath, cast the Levitation Charm on the one on the right, keeping it hovering in mid air as he watched. It was true that if Shirou managed to get his intent true, the spell worked without any hassle.

Lowering the book back to the desk, he then let his wrist rest for a few minutes before trying again, this time with both targets at the same time. It also worked without any visible change in the prana output. However, Shirou frowned at the sight of his own success. He still couldn't understand the system behind this world's magic.

"If Madam Pince sees you doing that, you'll get in a lot of trouble, Potter," came a voice from behind, which startled Shirou, making him stop his spell. The two books immediately started falling down. Luckily, he was able to catch both of them before they hit the desk's surface.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Shirou then turned around to see the one who dared to disturb him. He'd had his guess about who that was though.

"Davis. It isn't nice to sneak up on people, you know," said Shirou as he saw her, while silently cursing the ambient magic around the castle for messing with his prana sense. Normally, he would have noticed if someone with prana came close to where he was.

"Sorry about that," Tracey grinned. "Just thought I would scare you a little. It was lucky that you're the best Seeker around here, right? Wouldn't want Madam Pince to know that you've been mistreating books."

"Ah...Yeah. It was, I guess," for a moment, Shirou was confused and couldn't figure out what she was talking about. However, it didn't take him long to remember that Harry Potter played Quidditch.

"Right," Tracey nodded and walked over. She then took off her school bag and sat down in front of him. "Mind if I join you?"

"Go ahead, seeing you've invited yourself over anyway," Shirou shrugged, making the girl in front of him laugh. He then asked.

"This is the second time I see you here around this time. I thought you hated the library."

"I do," Tracey answered. "I just came because I thought I could find you here."

"Oh, you need something from me?" Shirou raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing in particular," the Slytherin witch answered dismissively. "I kind of like hanging out with you, much better than being with the dunderheads from my own house anyway."

"Is that so?" Asked Shirou, trying not to let the grimace shown on his face. It was hard enough for him to push away Harry's friends, and he certainly didn't want to make any new one right now. Tracey, however, just looked at him and smile for a moment before saying.

"Yes. Anyway, what are you working on today?"

"I'm thinking of doing Charms essay later," said Shirou, glad that the topic had changed, though the uneasy feeling still remained. "I was just trying out some of the spells."

"Yeah, about that, I heard you finally managed to cast your first spell this year. Congrats."

Shirou nodded wordlessly, not sure if he was being mocked or not.

"What changed?" Tracey asked, not really looking at him as she was busy taking out her stuff from inside the bag.

"It seemed like whatever happened to me put a block to my magic. Professor Dumbledore fixed that," said Shirou, telling her the first nonsense excuse that appeared in his mind. It worked though.

"Oh wow," her eyes widened as she looked at him. "I didn't expect something like that. Sorry."

"It's okay. So, how are you lately? I mean… Ever since the Hogsmeade trip…"

Instead of answering immediately, Tracey just stared at him for several seconds. Her face showed a mixture of emotion between mildly surprised and amused. Finally, she said.

"I'm recovering. Thanks for asking," A grin then started to show on her face. "And Mister Potter. Haven't you learnt anything from your talk with Daphne?"

"I remember," Shirou said, holding his hands up defensively. "I couldn't help it that we hadn't met ever since."

"I guess that's true," Tracey grinned. "I was going to give you a hard time about it, you know. But seeing how Daphne had already did so…" She then shrugged playfully. "Say, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead. I'll answer it if I can."

However, instead of asking right away, the Slytherin girl just looked at him once again, as if to consider her words. She then opened her mouth, but decided against saying anything and shook her head.

"Actually, never mind," she said.

"What's wrong?" Asked Shirou, feeling rather surprised at her action.

"I'm just not sure if it's really a good idea to ask anymore," Tracey replied, but she didn't elaborate on it any further.

"You're acting strange, Davis," said Shirou with a sigh. However, he wouldn't push her if she really didn't want to talk about it. The two then sat together in silence as neither knew how to get the conversation going. Besides, they also had their own work to do, Tracey with her homework, and Shirou with, well, he was leaning back against his seat and playing with his new wand to see what it could do. Currently, there were four books floating above their desk.

On a side note, Shirou finally noticed that the prana consumption had increased a little. He still didn't know whether it was because of the target's' weight or the number of targets itself though.

Finally, when the number of flying books increased to seven, Tracey suddenly sighed, dropped her quill before hiding her face in her hands and groaned in frustration. Seeing that, Shirou slowly lowered the books down in front of him and asked apologetically.

"Sorry. Did I distract you?"

"Not really," Tracey sighed, still not showing her face. "It's just that I'm crap when it comes to Ancient Runes. Sometimes I wonder why I even take this class."

"Can I take a look?" Shirou perked up as he heard what she said. He then took the parchment in front of her after receiving permission. It took him awhile to finally read through what she managed to write though.

"I see that you've made a few mistake here," he said, giving Tracey back her homework.

"Really?" She took the parchment from his hand while looking at him rather suspiciously. "I mean, it isn't a surprise that I made a mistake or two. But how would you know that? You don't even take this class."

"Let's just say that someone got a lot of free time to read during summer. I didn't know what I would be studying back then, so I read about as many subjects as I could," Shirou shrugged again. Obviously, that was a lie. It was true that he had some knowledge about Runes though. Back when he was still living with Rin at the Clock Tower, she had, for the most part, forced him to study at least another subject, saying that it wouldn't do for her apprentice to only know the most basic spells. Shirou, of course, saw no problem with only using what he already knew, but also thought that learning a few more tricks wouldn't hurt.

Not long after arriving to this world, he'd had a pleasant surprise to find out that this world's Runes , for the most part, was the same with what he'd learned. Unfortunately, it wasn't like he could do anything really constructive with that knowledge at the moment, seeing how little he managed to learn from his homeworld before he left for the Fake Grail.

Needless to say, Shirou had never thought of using that knowledge to solve some girl's homework. Originally, when he first heard that there would be a Runes class at Hogwarts, Shirou had considered joining, but quickly dismissed the idea, seeing that Harry didn't take it as one of his electives in the first place. Also, it wasn't like he was going to be a student for long, either.

"How much did you read to be able to understand something above your year like this?" Asked Tracey, surprise and a little skepticism still apparent on her face.

"Honestly? I don't really know," Shirou shook his head. "Remember, my memory was almost emptied. So I just grab some basic books from Diagon Alley and read away."

"Great, another bloody genius," the Slytherin girl mumbled, though one could easily see that she was only being playful. She then looked up at Shirou and smiled sweetly, fluttering her eyelids as she said. "Then, Mister Genius, can you please help me with my homework?"

"Sure, I can't see why not," Shirou shrugged, ignoring the girl, who was now pouting for her failed teasing attempt. She'd helped him out before, so it's only fair for him to repay the favor. He didn't know how much help he could be though.

* * *

The few following days passed in a blur with nothing worth mentioning, and before Shirou knew it, it was finally October. Currently, he and the entire Hogwarts residence were standing in lines inside the school yard, waiting for their guests from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.

The weather was turning cold, so here and there, Shirou could see people wearing an additional layer of clothing. However, the atmosphere seemed to be heated up with excitement. All over the place, cheerful chatting as well as whispering could be heard, most of them were speculations about the two other school's students.

For Shirou's part, it would be wrong to say that he wasn't interested in them.

"Please be quiet," Professor McGonagall said with her voice amplified. "Our guests could be here any minutes now. And I want to say to all of you one last time. Please don't do anything that isn't fitting of a Hogwarts student."

Simple but effective, there was an aura of authority around McGonagall that made the students obey her. The moment she finished speaking, there wasn't even a hint of whispering left. Instead, everyone started to look around excitedly, waiting for something to happen.

Shirou was the first one noticed it, as he whipped his head toward the lake, where a huge surge of prana came from. At first, there was nothing, then ripples started to appear on the lake's surfake. Gradually, a giant ship started surfacing as if it was at the bottom of the lake all along. Shirou couldn't help but stare at it while around him, many gasps and cheers could be heard.

Once the ship was properly docked, a door on it's side opened, give way for the people inside to emerge. There were around twenty of them, all in what seemed like their uniform, consisting of thick fur coat, fur hat, and a staff.

"I'm sweating just from looking at them," Shirou could hear Ron murmured to Neville, who was standing next to him, and had to agree. Despite the chilly weather, the amount of clothes those guys were wearing was just overkill.

"Headmaster Karkaroff," Dumbledore said cheerfully as he stepped ahead from where he was standing, his arms opened wide.

"Dumbledore, my old friend," the leader of the student group, whose name appeared to be Karkaroff, replied with his own toothy grin. The two man then embraced each other into a brief hug before shaking the other's hand. For some reasons, Shirou couldn't help to feel an evil vibe from Karkaroff, but he dismissed it, thinking that it wasn't right to judge someone based purely on their appearance.

"Everyone, please welcome Durmstrang Institute," finished with the greeting, Dumbledore turned to face the student body and announced. A round of applause followed his announcement.

"Look, that's Viktor Krum," someone on the front row whispered a little too loud, focusing the attention of the other on one familiar Durmstrang student. Shirou recognized him, of course. Despite not having much interest in Quidditch, anyone would remember Krum after having to hear Ron speaks about him for hours. Said red head was now busy wondering if he should ask his idol for an autograph. Shirou couldn't suppress a grin when he saw Hermione, who was standing behind Ron, held the boy by his collar and saying something along the line of 'Not now, Ron.'

Krum, on the other hand, just passed by them with a solemn face, giving occasional nods here and there. It looked like he was well used to his fame, which wasn't such a surprise.

After a few minutes, the excitement gradually died down as the Durmstrang students and their Headmaster made their way into the castle. There were still a large number of student trying to take a look at the famous Quidditch player, though they were quiet for the most part. Shirou had no doubt that it had something to do with the glare that Professor McGonagall was giving them.

The moment the Durmstrangs got out of sight, however, Shirou noticed something else again. His eyes quickly darted up toward the sky, where what looked like a dot was approaching. At least it looked like a dot to everyone else. Shirou, with his enhanced vision, could clearly see a giant flying carriage pulled by four equally big golden horses. Its speed was rather impressive as it finally reached Hogwarts' yard in almost no time, making everyone shield their eyes from the wind and dust as it landed.

When everyone was able to look up, the carriage door opened, revealed a woman, whom, to Shirou's surprise, was as large as Hagrid. However, for someone of that size, she was rather swift in getting down the stair, before bending down, allowing Dumbledore to kiss both of her cheeks.

"Madame Maxime, a pleasure," the old wizard smiled brightly.

"No, no, the pleasure is mine," Madame Maxime responded in kind with French accent. "It's been awhile since I last be here. Allow me to introduce Beauxbatons' pride," she said and made a motion with her arm toward the carriage. Apparently, that was a signal for the rest of her students to come out. Opposed to the Durmstrangs, who overly dressed, the Beauxbatons students made many of them shiver from their light clothings. The air around them was also different. While one might feel that the Durmstrangs were a serious and not very friendly bunch, the ones in front of them right now was more open, though how they actually were still remain to be seen.

Shirou, together with the rest of the Hogwarts students, looked on with interest. However, all of a sudden, a compulsion hit him hard when his eyes landed on _her - _a beautiful French girl with silky blond hair. For a moment, Shirou's mind was clouded. There was something in his mind telling him that she was the most gorgeous person that he'd ever met, that she was the only one that mattered right at that moment. Unconsciously, he took a step forward. He had to do something, anything, to get her attention.

_But something is wrong. I've felt like this before, _thought Shirou as his Magic Circuits flared up. Prana instantly flooded them, trying to expel the foreign magic. It almost wasn't enough though, maybe it was because they were so close to each other, making the compulsion even stronger, or the girl was just truly beautiful. In the end, Shirou had to stomp his foot down hard and shook his head to finally break free from her magical grasp. That action didn't go unnoticed, as he could feel several pairs of eyes strained on him. All of them from the girls, as the boys were too busy drooling to notice anything else.

_She's dangerous, _thought Shirou as he finally regained himself and glared at her. There was no doubt that she was a Veela. And while he didn't want to discriminate, having someone like that around a bunch of schoolboys without suppressing her alluring power was a bad move.

* * *

Fleur Delacour, seventeen years old, was a seventh year student at Beauxbatons. She was quarter Veela, and proud of it. However, her natural power also brought her lots of trouble. For that, she felt rather lucky because the number of female students at her school overwhelm the male counterpart.

Unfortunately, she didn't have such luck here. A few weeks ago, Fleur, together with nineteen other students became representatives for their school to travel to Hogwarts. Once there, by some unknown method, one of them would be chosen to be a Triwizard Champion. It was a big honor for both her and her school. Of course, Fleur didn't hesitate at all when Madame Maxime made the offer.

However, in all of her excitement, she had forgotten a fact that there would be many male students at Hogwarts. And now, she was trying to hide a grimace as all of their gazes were on her. Hopefully none of them would do anything stupid. Fleur was able to suppress her allure, but ever since she reached puberty, it was getting harder and harder for her to control that power completely.

Deep in thought, she was almost startled when she saw through the corner of her eyes, one of the boys stomped hard on the ground, shaking his head and breathed heavily. Out of curiousity, Fleur took a clearer look at him. Her eyes was immediately drawn to his hair, which was white with some black streaks. However, the thing that surprised her the most was to see him _glaring _at her with a frown on his face. It definitely wasn't normal. Any man who fell under her allure usually acted like they were enamored, wide eyes, and in some cases, drooling. There were also some exceptions, but this was the first time for her to be glared at with such intensity from one of the opposite sex.

"Weird kid, isn't he?" Claire, Fleur's friend, whispered into her ear as they made their way through the yard.

All Fleur could do was to nod in agreement as she kept staring at the boy until they reached the castle's gate.

* * *

Much to Fleur's dismay, it wasn't until evening that their welcoming feast was ready, and she was famished by that point. She was lounging in the room she shared with Claire on the carriage when Madam Maxime knocked on their door and told them to get to the castle. Without wasting any time, Fleur dressed up with an amazing speed before dragging her protesting friend out of the room.

However, when she finally reached the gate to the Great Hall, where the feast would be held, her feet stopped. From the inside, Fleur could hear at least hundreds of people laughing and chatting merrily to each other. It was a little unnerving since she hadn't had to deal with this many males in one room for quite awhile.

Claire, as if being able to sense what Fleur was thinking, patted her on the back.

"You will be fine, Fleur," she smiled. "It's not like you haven't done it before. Just be natural."

Looking at her friend for a moment, Fleur then returned her smile with one of her own and stepped inside the Hall. Her first impression was that it was bigger than the one Beauxbatons had, but less elegant. There was a dark and ancient atmosphere to it. She supposed that it was natural though, seeing how old the castle actually was.

The moment Fleur set her foot inside the Great Hall, many eyes instantly drawn to her, as if they were waiting for her appearance. Trying her best suppress a gulp, she quickly moved to where her schoolmates gathered, giving them a radiance smile and sat down between Claire and another girl. However, a chill ran down her spine forced her to look up. And there _he _was, directly in front of her seat, one rows of table away, the boy with white was watching her once again. Their eye contact lasted for just a second before Fleur broke it and turned away.

_What's the deal with him anyway, _she thought. She'd heard that Veela was discriminated in English Wizarding community. Maybe that was the case? That boy hated her for who she was? The thought alone made her blood boil. She looked up again and was about to give him her best glare, to show that she wasn't scared, but by the time her eyes found him, he'd already looked away.

It was when she noticed all the other students seemed to avoid the white haired boy. There was free space on both side of him while everywhere else was packed. However, Fleur was still too angry to bring herself to care.

Unfortunately, her mood got even worse as she started eating. English food didn't suit her, and the few French dishes that were served ran out way too fast.

Near the end of the feast, a man, whom Fleur guessed was Hogwart's caretaker, brought out a chest. Professor Dumbledore then stood up and opened it, revealed an artifact called the 'Goblet of Fire'. Immediately, everybody in the room sat up a little straighter as their gazes all focused on it.

Their curiosity were soon answered by Hogwarts' Headmaster though. Apparently, the secret method that they had heard about so much only consisted of writing your name and your school on a piece of parchment and put it in the goblet. It will then, in a way or another, decided the most suited ones to become Champion, one for each school. The result was going to be announced on the Halloween night, which is roughly a month away.

"It's surprisingly simple," said Claire thoughtfully. "I overheard some of the Hogwarts boys said that we would have to fight a troll in front of everyone or something to that extend."

Fleur chuckled. That story sounded so ridiculous now, but she had no doubt that she'd have also believed it if she had heard it before the feast. Still, it actually made her and many others sigh in relief. At least they wouldn't have to perform any complicated spell in front of all the spectators. Not that Fleur was scared, but to do so on the first day of her arrival was a bit unnerving.

When the feast finally ended, all of the guest students, including Fleur, wrote their names down and one by one, dropped their parchments into the goblet. Fleur couldn't help but notice that the white haired boy had left the room as soon as he finished his meal.

_Maybe he hasn't reached seventeen yet, _she shrugged and turned her attention back to the goblet.

* * *

Finally, Fleur was able to put in her name and was now leaning against a wall just outside of the Great Hall, waiting for Claire to finish her turn. The hall where she was standing was mostly deserted, as most of the students had either come back to their dorms, or was still inside, watching the representatives. She was surprised, however, when a figure approached her and said.

"May I have a word?"

Looking up, Fleur had to stop herself from flinching as she saw the white haired boy. He wasn't glaring at her anymore, but the look he gave her was still rather disheartening.

"Sure, why not?" She said as calmly as possible.

"Thank you," he nodded. "My name's Harry Potter."

Fleur's eyebrow shot up as she heard the name.

"Harry Potter?" She asked. "But you don't look like any of the pictures…"

"Oh, this?" He grabbed a bit of his hair. "I got a disease that makes my hair go white at a young age," he then shrugged. "Don't worry, it's not fatal, or even harmful."

"Oh...right. I'm Fleur Delacour," Fleur nodded. She was feeling very nervous but tried to hide it. It wouldn't be good to start panicking now.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Delacour," said Harry politely before looked straight into her eyes. "I'm sure you're tired, so I will just cut to the point. Are you a Veela?"

This time, Fleur frowned. She got a bad feeling about this.

"I'm a quarter Veela," she answered proudly. "My mother is a half Veela and my father is human."

"I see," Harry nodded. "It explain the boys' strange behaviors when they saw you."

"But you aren't affected," Fleur asked. To be totally honest, she was curious about him too.

"When I first saw you, I almost succumbed to the power, but managed to resist it," he shook his head. "Even now I can feel it probing my mind, but I have my way to keep it out. However, the majority of the male population here wasn't able to do that. Your power...It's much stronger than those Veela back at the World Cup."

"And your point is?" Fleur asked pointedly. She didn't like the way he was trying to analyse her allure.

"Why did you come here, Miss Delacour?" Harry asked. "Are you not aware of how your power would affect the opposite gender? I have seen people wanting to jump off from the Quidditch stands because of it before, and I don't want anything like that happen here."

"I came here because I was invited," Fleur growled at him. "I was chosen to be a representative and got a chance to be a Champion. Do you know how big of an honor is that?"

"Big enough to risk hurting other people, apparently," Harry shook his head sadly. That particular action was enough to send Fleur over the edge.

"You…" She was about to lash out at the boy in front of her. However, at that moment, Claire stepped out of the Great Hall and looked at the two of them in confusion.

"What's happening here?" The girl asked.

"Nothing," Harry sighed and took a step back. "I'm sorry for taking your time, Miss Delacour. Please think about what I just said. Good night."

He then turned around and walked away.

"Is that the strange kid earlier?" Claire asked nervously as she realized that her friend was furious. "He didn't say something nasty to you, did he?"

"Just a jerk who thinks he knows how I am," Fleur growled as she glared at the direction that the boy left. "Never mind, just get back to our room, I'm exhausted. And why is this place so damn cold?"

_So much for the famed English gentlemen, _she sighed tiredly on her way back.

**End of chapter 15**


	16. Chapter 16

The following morning, Shirou woke up with a minor headache. Despite still having classes for the day, the other Gryffindor boys had spent the most part of the previous night to talk about Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum. While they have enough tact to keep their voices small, it would be even better if one of them had known how to use a privacy ward.

_Fleur Delacour… _Thought Shirou as the image of the blond Veela and their encounter popped up inside his head. It didn't go as well as he'd hoped. Heck, he could say that he screwed up royally and it was still true, since all he managed to do was to piss her off. Now that he thought about it, Shirou realized that there might be a better way to go around the issue other than shoving it straight at her face. However, his opinion still stood. Fleur was dangerous if she couldn't get a reign over her own power.

_Maybe I still haven't gotten over Adam's case yet, _Shirou sighed. From what he'd seen, the Greengrass wizard and Fleur were nothing alike. Still, a lot of people's safety was riding on it.

Shaking his head, he finally decided to get out of bed to prepare for his morning routine.

An hour and a half later, Shirou made his way into the Great Hall for breakfast. However, the moment he stepped into the hall, he halted. Something was different. The atmosphere was unusually heavy. Taking a look around, Shirou saw almost everybody's gazes were trained on him, but they quickly looked away when their eyes met. It was almost like his first week here, when the attention on himself were still fresh.

_What did I do this time? _Shirou wondered as he made his way to the Gryffindor table. As usual, there were space on both sides of him whenever he sat down. It didn't bother him that much. However, he couldn't help but notice today's difference. His housemates steered clear off him a little too quickly. After that, they even gave him some not-so-subtle glance and whispered between themselves.

Something was definitely wrong. The first time around, the attention other students gave him was merely out of curiosity. However, Shirou could actually felt some hatred and malice from them now. Their gazes and glares told it all.

Before he could think deeper on the issue, a big brown owl arrived through a window and landed in front of him, sticking out her leg, which had a letter tied on it. Raising an eyebrow at the unusual occurrence, Shirou, took the letter, gave the owl a piece of bacon and a little pumpkin juice before sending her away. He then took a good look at the envelope.

There was no sender.

Frowning a little, Shirou applied a quick Analysis on it, but found nothing malicious or harmful. He then opened it and took out the letter. It read:

_Hello Harry,_

_First of all, you may not remember me, but allow me to say 'I'm sorry'. I really am, for all the time that I've failed you._

_I don't know how long it would take for this letter to reach you. I wrote this right after the news about the Hogsmeade attack arrived. I wanted to contact you sooner, but some circumstances prevented me from doing so. Again, I'm sorry._

_I know that you've lost your memory, again, due to my stupidity. I haven't stopped blaming myself for that yet, but I'm sure it's nothing compared to what you've been through._

_I won't fail you again, Harry. I guess it's time for me to fulfill the duty that your parents had entrusted me with, no matter how late it might be._

_Please write back if you got time._

_Snuffle._

_P/S: I hope Hermione had told you about me already. If not, ask her and she will tell you. Stay safe and keep your wit about. I heard that you had old Moody as your DADA teacher this year. Learn from him. The man might be nut, but he was one of the best the Auror Corp has ever had to offer._

Shirou blinked. The letter was short, but to the point. The person… Snuffle, seemed like he was writing it in a hurry, if the uneven and shaky shapes of the letters were something to judge on.

_Snuffle… Isn't he Sirius Black? _Pondered Shirou. Hermione had told him about the nickname that Harry's godfather would be using when he was finally able to contact them. He then grimaced. Due to all the hectic events going on around him during the past few months, Shirou had actually forgotten about the fugitive.

He sighed deeply. It looked like what Hermione told him was true, that Sirius Black really cared about Harry. That would make it much harder for both parties when Shirou finally told him the truth. As if it wasn't difficult enough with only the Weasleys and Hermione…

Things were getting more and more complicated, and Shirou needed to end this facade as soon as possible. Dumbledore, Adam, or their ridiculous schemes be damned.

* * *

"Potter," came a familiar voice from behind as Shirou was on his way to Charm class.

"McCoy. What do you need?" he answered without stopping. Malfoy's voice sounded somewhat cheerful, and that was unsettling. Draco Malfoy, feeling happy when talking to Harry Potter. Something just didn't at up.

"It's Malfoy!" Came an angry retort from behind. "You're calling me that on purpose, aren't you?"

"About time you figured it out," mumbled Shirou.

"Did you say something?"

Shirou just shrugged as he kept walking.

"Stand still so I can talk to you properly," the blond Slytherin said. Despite not being able to see him, Shirou could tell that he was slightly out of breath from chasing him around.

"If you can't tell, McCoy, I'm rather busy at the moment," he said.

"But I just want to congratulate you," Draco growled. Shirou, however, paused abruptly and turned around.

"Congratulate me? On what?" He asked. Today was just full of surprise, for Draco to congratulate him on something…

"I know all about it, Potter," Draco grinned. He halted himself just in time to prevent himself from slamming into Shirou.

"All about what?" Shirou's eyes narrowed slightly.

"About how you put the Veela in her place yesterday, of course," the blond smirked as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Congrats. It looks like you've got some senses after all. And here I thought you were already a lost cause. If you keep this up, I might even forgive you for sending your underling after me in Hogsmeade."

"What did they do to you in Hogsmeade?" Shirou's eyes narrowed. None of the Gryffindors that he'd talked to knew anything about the business between Harry's friends and Draco.

"Don't play dumb, Potter," a scowl and a two faint pink spots appeared on Draco's face, but it went away as soon as it came. "Never mind that for now," he waved his hand and smirked. "I came here to congratulate you, not to talk about that."

"But how did you know about me and Fleur?" Shirou asked. Instead of answering, Draco just pointed his thumb toward one of the portraits on the wall.

"What… Oh, damn it," Shirou groaned and hid his face in his hand as he finally understood what the blond was implying. In his haste to talk to Fleur while she was alone, he didn't take into account the portraits in the Entrance Hall at all. "So… The whole school…"

"...knew about it. That's right," Draco nodded in satisfaction. "News travel fast within these walls, you should know about that better than most. Now, you aren't the only one on a hurry, yet I still spare some time to see you. Remember that the next time we talk."

He then grinned triumphantly before walking away, leaving behind a rather annoyed Shirou, who finally figured out the reason he was gawked at with so much malice from his schoolmates.

That was the day Shirou figured out his newfound hatred for wizarding portraits.

* * *

After his first week at Hogwarts, Shirou had thought that the life in the castle was a little stuffing at times. He was soon proved wrong, however. Now, two weeks after his little talk with Fleur Delacour, Shirou finally realized just how tiring it could be, being the center of attention where almost everyone hated him. The number of the places that he could go without receiving hateful glares, or hearing jibbing comments, was scarce. Unfortunately, the additional students from both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons didn't help easing the situation.

In all honesty, Shirou actually considered it a good thing, as the more people tried to keep their distance the better. Though on the downside, having to deal with that kind of pressure on a constant basis was gradually putting a strain on his mental health. Therefore, once in awhile, he snuck out of the crowded Gryffindor tower, found himself a quiet place to relax. Most of the time, Shirou would just choose a random empty classroom, or the Astronomy tower whenever the place wasn't occupied by couples who used it for their snogging session.

Initially, the library was also in his favorite list of choices. However, after Tracey Davis managed to find him there two more times, Shirou started to avoid that place. The Slytherin girl was behaving strangely, and despite being called dense at least twice a week by Rin, he would have to be blind to not notice Tracey's interest in him, or rather, the secret behind his dramatic changes. Let the girl continue her advance was just asking for trouble. And Merlin knew, Shirou had had his fair share of trouble to deal with.

Tonight, however, he found himself wanting a bit of fresh air and headed for the Astronomy tower. Unfortunately, as Shirou approached the top of the tower's staircase, he could hear a certain...noise coming from behind the closed door, indicating that whoever were there, they had already finished with the snogging, and had moved on to another, more heated activity.

_I guess there aren't many places within the castle if you want to get risky, _thought Shirou as he hid his face in his hand and sighed. Not wanting to intrude on the passionate couple any longer, he quickly turned away. It looked like he would have to settle with one of the classrooms today, or go outside and choose an isolated spot.

Actually, the latter choice didn't sound bad at all.

Fifteen minutes later, Shirou finally found himself a nice place near the Forbidden Forest. No one from either the castle or Hagrid's shack could see anything there. The only place that had a view of his current place was from the greenhouse, which generally wasn't used in the evening.

Sitting down against a tall tree, Shirou then spent several minutes doing nothing but close his eyes and enjoy the chilly evening wind. It was nice and liberating. It wasn't like all of his problems were just going to go away, but for a moment, it seemed like they did. Voldemort's return, Adam's lies, Dumbledore's grand scheme, Hermione's stubbornness, Tracey's curiosity, and even Fleur's dangerous power, they all became a distance noise deep inside his mind.

Unfortunately, everything must come to an end, and this good time was no exception. Slowly opening his eyes, Shirou then heaved out a deep sigh before pulling out his wand. It would be good to experiment with it some more to see what he could do.

Picking up a rock right next to him, Shirou then cast a simple spell, changing it into a branch, a fake wand, a silver spoon, a fruit knife, and an alarm clock. Pausing a few seconds, he then concentrated on his intent before casting again. The clock glowed brightly before started shifting into a rat. However, before the transformation completed, it stopped, revealing the final result as a rat with a row of button on its back. The creature quickly jumped off of Shirou's hand and fled into the darkness of the forest.

Shirou frowned. He was still stuck with transfiguring an inanimate object into an animal. Not that it would be a serious matter for him in the near future, but he thought that having something like a lion to fight beside him, or to distract his opponents would be good too. Unfortunately, to be able to reach that level required a lot of time and effort, something that Shirou wasn't sure if he would have much once he finally left this place.

_Let's try something else, _thought Shirou as he remembered the first time he tried out the wand in Dumbledore's office. He cast a levitation charm on the candy bowl, but despite him saying the correct incantation, the bowl was still banished instead.

If what he guessed was correct, then the intent he used when casting spell, if strong enough, could override the incantation and even the wand movements. Shirou still had to admit though, levitation charm was a very basic spell that didn't require that much focus, thus making it easier for him to achieve what he did.

Using his projection, Shirou made a dozen of small rocks and laid them in front of him. He then raised his wand and banished the first one. That went without problem. He did the same with the next two. However, as Shirou turned to the fourth one, he changed the incantation and wand movements of the banishing charm to that of the levitation charm. The rock still soared through the air as he finished casting.

Didn't stop to admire his own success, Shirou instantly moved to his next target, this time only thought of the incantation instead of saying it out loud. Unfortunately, the moment the thought appeared inside his head, it messed with his focus, making the spell fail. The rock remained still on the ground.

Only looked at the failure for a second, he then continued, this time by saying the incantation out loud, but changed the movement to only a jab. The spell was a success, but the power was diminished greatly. The rock only bounced off of the ground a few times before coming to a stop.

_At least, my intent can override the incantation, _Shirou pondered. With what he'd just witnessed, even casting silently might be possible, if he managed to keep the thought from interfering with his focus. That, again, would take no small amount of practice to perfect.

Changing the wand movement, on the other hand, while was entirely possible, he would need to put much more power into the spell in order for it to work as expected. Not an effective method, given how low his prana reserve was. There were many other things that he had to prioritize over a second saved from removing wand movement.

"Is there any particular purpose for those exercises?" Came an accented voice from behind. Being too engrossed in his experiments, Shirou didn't even noticed her approaching. Cursing himself silently, something that he found himself doing a lot these days, Shirou turned around and looked at the beautiful French witch, who was looking at him with mild interest.

For a split moment, Shirou's eyes widened. He had expected her Veela power to assault him the moment their eyes met. Instead, there was nothing. They just looked at each other, and there wasn't any voice telling him to jump down from the top of Hogwarts highest tower or something similar.

"No, nothing like that. I was just trying out something," shaking his head, Shirou answered her while trying to hide his surprise. It didn't escape Fleur's attention though.

"Surprised?" She asked, and Shirou could only nodded. Maybe he was just imagining things, but Fleur looked like she was fidgeting uncomfortably where she stood.

"To be honest, if I focus entirely on it, I can suppress my own allure," said the witch with a small 'hmp' as she folded her arms in front of her rather well developed chest, making it even more noticeable. She also gave him a glare, while fierce, didn't have as much anger in it as the last time they met. "I can't do it all the time though. But I'm trying to perfect my control. It's been awhile since I'd last been around that many males. I might have let my guard down too much. Still… Does my power truly offend you that much? I've had girls confront me when their boyfriends gawked at me a little too long to their liking, but a boy…"

"I think you're misunderstanding something," Shirou said. "I'm not offended by you or your power."

"Then why…" Fleur asked, surprised. It was only understandable. Never before that a male had shown blatant dislike toward her allure, or herself in general. It was a completely new experience for her.

"Can I be honest?" Shirou asked and the witch nodded. "If it was only about me, I wouldn't think much about it. I might be surprised, but I would let it pass. Since as you can see, I can resist your allure. It wouldn't harm me. But we're talking about a lot of people here, mostly teenager, who are rather hormonal and don't have a firm control over their minds yet."

"Yet the most they did was to drool all over themselves and looking rather foolish," Fleur replied defiantly but quickly deflated, looking a little shameful. "Well, not the best I would hope for. But the point is that no harm had come to them. I'm sure that my usual level of control wouldn't force them to do anything to that effect."

As she said that, a familiar feeling washed over Shirou's mind. He recognized the allure instantly. It seemed like the girl in front of him had finally reached her limit and couldn't keep up her absolute control any longer.

"That's true, I suppose," he pondered, admitting that she'd got a point. "Still, recently, someone I'd considered an ally did something that would put a lot of people at risk. Not much of an excuse, but pardon me if I'm still skeptical about you."

"And I'm not here to convince you otherwise," Fleur shrugged, letting her arms fall to her sides. "I just want to let you know where I stand. The last time you basically called me a monster who disregard everything else for her own goal," she scoffed disdainfully at the mention of their last conversation.

"To be fair. Your answer didn't exactly dissuade that notion."

"Well, maybe…" Mumbled Fleur as she looked away awkwardly. The two pink dots on her cheeks would be impossible to spot without an eyesight such as Shirou's. "On the other hand, it's true that being chosen as a Champion is a tremendous honor… Sorry, that wasn't the point I'm trying to make." She waved her hands and added the last part hastily after seeing Shirou's raised eyebrow.

"The point is…" Fleur coughed into her hand and continued, the blushes on her face deepened, making her look even more pretty. "...I'm trying not to let the allure control how I live. You can't really suggest that I hide away for the rest of my life, can you?"

For a split second, Shirou was tempted to told her that, yes, he could. But that would be far too cruel. Instead, he nodded. He didn't know if his moment of hesitation was noticed or not. But if she did, Fleur didn't say anything about it.

"I don't know how you think of it," she said. "But to me, being a Veela is more of a blessing than a curse. I'm proud to have this power. And how I choose to use it is all that matters, don't you agree? From what you said, I can see that you only see the harmful side of it, and given our notion, I can't exactly blame you. But I assure you that it won't happen around me. Say, Potter, did you even consider other possibilities, where I can, for example, prevent a criminal from harming anyone and turn himself in with my power?"

Shirou was stunned for a second. She was right. The idea that her allure could somehow be helpful didn't even run through his head once, while he was busy focusing on what harm it could bring. The sheer intensity of her voice and the look she was giving him told Shirou that she would certainly do exactly that if the need arose.

"You got me, Miss Delacour," finally, he threw both his arms up into the air. "I can see that you meant what you said. Still, the danger is there. Can you be one hundred percent sure that your control would never slip? Or that you would never be tempted to use the allure to harm another?"

"I… can't promise something like that," Fleur sighed. "But I trust my friend. She would do her best to prevent me from going out of control. And now I can tell that you're going to do the same even without me asking."

"That's true," Shirou admitted without hesitation, though if it came to him, he might do a little more than simply 'preventing' her. Still, maybe the girl in front of him deserved the benefit of doubt. For now at least.

"That's good to hear," Fleur nodded. "I'm glad we talked. Now I think I should head back."

"One question, if you don't mind," Shirou said. "Why did you talk to me? I mean, the last time looked like you were ready to hex me into oblivion."

"You're right about that," she answered. "I mean, you hurt me pretty badly back then, and I was furious. After that, my friend has talked me into convincing you that I didn't mean harm. Though I must admit that her method involves a lot of cursing and hexing."

"I'm glad it didn't come to that then," Shirou chuckled, which was soon followed by Fleur herself.

"Me too. Though you should also know that I've seriously thought about that," she said, and somehow Shirou didn't doubt her word one bit.

"What can I say, you're not the first one who wanted to do so," he shrugged and saw that she was now smiling.

"I wonder why I don't doubt that," she said and turned around. "Well, goodnight, Potter. Maybe we can talk later."

"Maybe. Goodnight, miss Delacour."

"One last piece of advice," after a few steps, Fleur stopped and said without turning back. "If you want to cast spell silently, choose a simple one and practice with it until you no longer have to consciously think about the intent, then go on from that. The levitation charm is a good one to start with. Goodluck."

She then left, leaving behind a rather dumbfounded Shirou, who then found a grin gradually tugged at the corner of his mouth as he watched her retreating back.

* * *

Having taken Fleur's advice to heart, Shirou then devoted a part of his free time into training silent spellcasting. Mostly it was just a side project to kill time though, as he found himself having no use for it anytime soon in the near future. Nevertheless, Shirou was happy to see that his practice finally bore some fruits. A week after their talk, he was finally able to levitate a small rocks for a few seconds without reading the incantation out loud.

Not everything was going as smoothly as that though. Once again, Hermione Granger decided to give him a headache. One morning, she just decided to come over during breakfast and took the seat across from him. As if it wasn't enough, she was soon joined by Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom.

"Morning, Harry," she greeted cheerfully.

"It's too early, Hermione," mumbled Ron as he got into his seat. The redhead didn't even bother to conceal the yawn that he let out.

"Getting up early once in awhile is good for you, Ron," Hermione glare at him pointedly, but Ron either didn't notice it, or chose to ignore it altogether.

"Maybe. Still, don't you think it's a little too...bold? To go into the boy's dorm like that…" Neville said, rubbing his eyes. Shirou couldn't help but notice that despite still being a little nervous, he was now a lot more comfortable around the other two than before.

"In case you didn't notice, Neville, I did that a lot before," Hermione just shrugged like it wasn't an issue to get worked up over.

"That's…" The poor boy opened his mouth, but his retorted died somewhere on its way out. Instead, he chose to shake his head in resignation and turned to Shirou. "Good morning, Harry. It's been awhile since we last talked."

"Good morning, you three," Shirou sighed inwardly as he replied. He didn't exactly hate what they were trying to do, but it bothered him nevertheless.

"Hello there, mate," Ron said, not really looking at him. "Look, Harry, I…" He stuttered before throwing a subtle glance at Hermione, only to receive a glare from the bushy haired witch.

"I…" He gulped audibly and turned back to Shirou. "I just want to say sorry."

"For what?" Shirou raised an eyebrow.

"For behaving like a prat the last time we talked. There is no way you would like hanging out with Malfoy after all," Ron said it so fast that his words almost blurred together. It seemed like the boy thought that it would be easier if he could let it out as quickly as possible.

Well, maybe it was.

"And how could you possibly know that?" Asked Shirou, trying to keep a straight face, since as much as he didn't want to admit it, Ron's struggling face when he tried to apologize was absolutely hilarious. His face turned the same shade as his hair and sweats formed on his forehead. It looked like the poor boy could explode at any moment.

Before Ron could answer, however, Hermione jumped in. "Please, Harry. We talked about it the last time, remember? It's no use to repeat that, since from what I see, nothing has changed at all."

Shirou sighed. Yes, dealing with her would be a problem.

Hermione's expression then softened as she gave him a sad smile. And in Shirou's opinion, that definitely could be counted as a low blow.

"We still would like to hear an explanation, Harry," she said. "I'm not going to force it out of you or anything, but honestly, don't count our friendship to be over until you give us an acceptable one. I think now is a good time as any other, since your closest friends are all here."

"She...She's right, you know," Neville said from his seat. "Well, I might not be one of your closest, but I would like to think I'm your friend. Not that I have not much to show though…" The last part was said in a murmur, so small that one could have missed it if they didn't pay enough attention.

"I told you that's not true, Neville," Hermione scowled slightly, and Shirou couldn't help but agree with her. A mentality like that wasn't healthy at all. "But the part about him being your friend is true, Harry. It's not fair when you behave that way."

"I know that," Shirou shook his head, his appetite disappeared. "But I've told you already. I can't give you an explanation right now. Not yet. It's not that simple."

"You always say that," Ron rolled his eyes. "When the truth is that you just don't know how to say it."

As the his sentence died, Ron looked around to see three pairs of eyes staring at him in shock. Hermione even had her mouth gaping openly as if she had just seen the redhead for the first time.

"What?" He asked, his face once again turned red. "I heard my mum said that when she and dad have a fight."

"Right…" Hermione mumbled, still eyeing him suspiciously. "Joking aside, is that true, Harry? If that's the case, you don't have to be afraid. You can tell us everything, you know."

"I know, and don't think I've doubted that for a second," Shirou answered as a smile showed on Hermione's face. However, it soon turned into a scowl as he continued in a heavier tone. "But please understand. It really isn't that simple, and I'm not saying that just to avoid telling any of you. You will soon know about it though. I promise."

"That's…" Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but finally decided against it. Maybe it had something to do with the odd glance Neville was giving her. Nevertheless, she just sighed in the end.

"Just… How soon is 'soon', Harry? We're all missing you. Don't you think it's unfair for you to push us away like that?"

"I'm sorry," said Shirou in a simple, but firm voice, indicating that the conversation was over and he had nothing else to offer.

"It's alright," replied Hermione. "You have your own issues to deal with anyway."

After that, the topic shifted to more mundane subjects such as schoolworks or the Triwizards Tournament. Over and over again, the three Gryffindor tried to include Shirou in their own talk, but he only answered with short sentences whenever necessary. Still, he could see that his stubbornness wasn't going to be enough to make Hermione give up.

The group then continued their meal in silence, until the bushy haired witch decided to break it again.

"Harry," she called hesitantly, but decided to push on in the end as no resistance came from Shirou. "I've been wanting to ask you something. Is that true that you and that Beauxbatons students…"

"If you wanted to know whether or not I and Fleur Delacour had a talk the evening of her arrival, then yes," answered Shirou without looking up from his plate. He had expected to be asked about that.

"Oh…" Hermione's eyes widened. "That's...well...uhm…"

"So it's true that you insulted her because she is a Velaa? Well, my mum hated them too, for some reason. But I can't see you doing it, mate," it was Ron, and despite the situation, Shirou found himself had to suppress a grin as he saw Hermione let out a sigh of relief. It looked like the redhead's tactlessness had its use after all.

"Look, I don't know what kind of rumor the portraits were spreading around. But I'm sure as hell didn't…" Shirou paused. Technically, he _did _insult Fleur, though his true intention wasn't anything like that.

"...didn't mean to hurt her," he finally continued. "I just want her to be aware of how dangerous her power could be and ask her the reason that made her come here despite the danger."

"Well, that definitely sounds more like you," Hermione frowned. However, she still looked rather displeased. "Still, I don't think she appreciated being called dangerous, you know. She must be fully aware of how her power works."

"She does at that," Shirou nodded slightly. While he admitted of going a little overboard when confronting Fleur, he didn't regret it. Heck, if she proved to be a real threat, he would do much more than that to stop any harm from coming to the people here.

"What I want to say is that you should try to apologize to her," Hermione sighed. "Based on what I read about Velaa, I'm not very fond of them either. But I'm trying not to pass judgement since I don't know her personally. You should do the same."

Shirou just gave her a noncommittal shrug before going back to finish his breakfast. Usually, he would have finished with it long ago.

* * *

"It looks like they made up," from the Slytherin table, Tracey Davis voiced her thought to her friend - Daphne Greengrass. "They have been sitting together at meals for days now."

"I don't think so," Daphne answered, giving a particular Gryffindor group a half-hearted glance. "I bet it's just Granger's scheme, you know, instead of finding out his problem through another way, she just confronts Potter head on and hopes that he would somehow give up whatever it is that he's hiding."

"Hmm… It does seem that way now that you mentioned it. But Potter isn't all that talkative to begin with, you know..." Tracey said, more to herself than to her friend as she took a longer look at where a certain white haired boy was sitting. Around him, Granger was reviewing her homework, while Weasley and Longbottom were chatting animatedly about Merlin-knows-what. Occasionally, they would turn to Harry and asked him a question or two, but said boy didn't look like he wanted to be included at all.

"From what you told me, he talks enough when you two are together," Daphne commented and Tracey could feel her face heat up slightly. However, she sighed.

"I don't know about that. He'd stopped coming to the library and it seems to be impossible to catch him anywhere else. I wonder if he's avoiding me."

"Is that so?" For the first time, Daphne sat up straighter and looked at Tracey. Her expression then turned into that of a frown. "Are you trying to pry into his secret and all? Like what Granger is doing. As you can see, it isn't working out very well."

"I did ask him some questions, but he deflected them rather well," said Tracey dejectedly. "Still, I wouldn't call it prying. I didn't force him or anything."

"Then I don't know either," Daphne sighed. "I don't even know him as well as you do. Well, cheer up. There's nothing to be sad about a boy who you only talked with a couple of times, even if he is Harry Potter. Especially if the rumor about him and the Beauxbatons Veela is true."

"Maybe you're right," said Tracey with a sigh of her own as she turned her attention back to the silver plate full of food on the table. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling hungry anymore.

* * *

Halloween was a serious affair within the Wizarding World. Back in his original world, Shirou hadn't had much chance to celebrate it. When he was still a kid, Fuji-nee had often dressed herself and him up with strange costumes. However, as he grew older, Shirou realized that there were still many part-time jobs that needed to be done before going back to Emiya Residence and have a small feast of their own, with him as the main cook, and Taiga as the main food consumer. It was as simple as it could be with only a few spooky decorations hanged up around the living room.

After the Grail War, Shirou left Japan and followed Rin to England, where Halloween was celebrated with more spirit. However, the Clock Tower, where they lived did no such thing. It was understandable though, as if the magi would spend their precious research time to do something so mundane and useless like that.

All in all, seeing a Halloween feast like Hogwarts' was a new experience for Shirou, and a welcoming one at that. The moment he set foot inside the Great Hall, the sight of hundreds upon hundreds pumpkin lanterns floating in mid air replacing the candles stunned him for a few seconds. Even the hall's entire atmosphere had turned tad eerier. Maybe it was because of the much creepier decorative armors, thanks to professor McGonagall, or maybe the ghosts' contribution had something to do with it. They showed themselves much more frequently, appeared from every wall and drifted through the hall in a leisurely manner. With the exception of Bloody Baron, whom, despite his skeletal appearance, looked like he was taking pleasure in scaring the first years out of their wit by flying as closely as possible, or randomly popping up between a group of them and put on his scariest possible face, which, incidentally, was also his normal one.

That aside, Shirou even heard Hermione said that Nearly Headless Nick had postponed his Deathday party, whatever that was, in order for him and his usual guests to attend Hogwarts' feast instead, making the ghost population rose noticeably.

There was also another reason that made the whole affair much more exciting than just a simple celebration. Upon entering the hall, everyone's first action was to throw a glance toward the Goblet of Fire, which was standing proudly with its burning blue flame right in front of the teacher's table. It'd been a month ever since the day it was revealed for everyone who wanted to participate in the Triwizards Tournament to put in their name, and today was finally the day of the result announcement.

For some reason, Shirou also felt a bit of the excitement himself.

"Man, I wonder who is going to be Hogwarts' Champion," Ron said to no one in particular as he, Neville and Hermione took his usual seat on the opposite of Shirou's. They'd been relentless in their attempt to accompany him during every meal. Shirou had managed to somehow get used to their presence and tuned out most of what they said, only answered when asked directly. Still, it wasn't like he enjoyed doing so. After all, they just wanted to have their friend back.

"I hope Angelina would be chosen," said Neville as he turned his gaze toward the seventh year Gryffindor Chaser. Angelina was one of the first students to put their names into the Goblet. She was now sitting just a little away from Shirou's group, chatting happily with Katie and Alicia. At the first glance, she appeared to be totally calm and collected, but Shirou could see that occasionally, she would threw subtle glances toward the burning Goblet, anticipation apparent in her gaze.

It wasn't a bad thing nevertheless. If Angelina needed to fake her calmness then so be it. It might even come true if she managed to fool herself enough.

"Cedric isn't so bad himself. You know, the Hufflepuff Prefect," said Hermione with a smile.

"Well, but he's a Puff. I guess it didn't matter though. As long as Warrington didn't get chosen," said Ron, throwing a disgusted glance toward the Slytherin table and received many of those in return.

Shirou just sat there and listened to all the commotion going on around him. He found it rather ironic that the Tournaments that was supposed to help strengthen the bonds between and within the participating schools, seemed to be driving a deeper wedge between those very people. For him, the highlight of the whole thing was when the Weasley twins received their magnificent sets of beard as they tried to fool the Ageline. The memory of that scene was still clear in his mind, and Shirou could remember that it was one of the few times that he had truly had some fun ever since the start of term.

Once most of the seats in the Great Hall was filled, the feast finally started. The food was just as excellent like they was any other time. However, while Shirou spent his time to appreciate the cooks effort, the rest of the students, with the exception of Ron, didn't seem to share the same interest as his.

With all the magic around Hogwarts, Shirou imagine one could actually see the tension and anticipation in the air if he or she focused hard enough. Around the hall, all sort of talking and murmuring could be heard from both students and teachers alike. Most of them had the same topic though. Everyone was excited for the upcoming Tournament that no one seemed to care about the gorgeous dishes laid out in front of them at all.

_What a waste, _thought Shirou as he slowly chewed on a piece of chicken, savoring the taste.

After about thirty minutes, the long and painful wait had finally come to an end. All eyes was drawn toward the head table as Dumbledore stood up and stepped forward. The old wizard took a moment to take in the sight before him before letting a gentle smile show on his face as he opened his arms.

"Happy Halloween, everyone. I hope our guests, as well as our own students, enjoyed today's feast," he said with a magically enhanced voice. The deafening clappings that came from below was, apparently, all the answer he needed. Waiting for the crown to grew quiet again, Dumbledore then continued.

"It's indeed a pleasure to gather in this ancient hall in order to celebrate the holiday. However, I, as well as all of you sitting here today, know that it isn't all the reason for the excitement we're feeling. Today is the day the Goblet of Fire lets us know who will have the honor of becoming Triwizards Champions," the old wizard then paused, taking a breath before saying in a lower voice. "But before we get to that moment, allow me to introduce two very important men. Without them, we wouldn't even have this Tournament to begin with. Please give your warmest welcome to Mister Barty Crouch - Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and Mister Ludo Bagman - Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

Hearing their names announced, two men whom Shirou have met at the Quidditch World Cup stood up to receive the applause. Ludo Bagman, who was waving and smiling jovially, was the complete opposite of his stone-faced colleague, Barty Crouch. As the noise died down, the two of them retook their seats and everyone waited for Dumbledore to continue his speech.

"A very warm welcome," the old wizard smiled again. "Now, without any further ado. Let us find out the name of each school's Champion."

Right after that sentence was said, the Goblet's blue fire instantly turned crimson and burned with even more intensity. A piece of parchment with slightly charred corners then shot out of it into the air, which was then skillfully snatched by Dumbledore.

"First, we have Durmstrang's Champion," he announced for everyone to hear. "Viktor Krum!"

Once again, the Great Hall erupted with the thunderous noise of hundreds pairs of hands clapping at the same time. The rest of the Durmstrang students even chanted Krum's name. Maybe it was because they had expected this result from the start? Or they would do this for whoever was lucky enough to become their Champion, Shirou couldn't be certain.

"I knew it," from his seat, Ron even stood up and pumped his fist into the air. "I knew Krum would be chosen. There's nobody else more worthy than him."

"Can't argue to that, I guess," Neville shrugged, though the boy himself was also looking admiringly toward the Durmstrang's Champion, who was now retreating into a room in the back of the hall as instructed by Ludo Bagman.

The moment Krum's back disappeared behind the door, the flame shot up once again, revealing another piece of parchment. Once again, Dumbledore caught it mid-air before reading the content out loud.

"Beauxbatons' Champion - Fleur Delacour!"

The applause for the French witch were a bit smaller than Krum's, which wasn't a surprise. Still, there were many people supported her than Shirou had expected. Maybe it was because of the rumor about him insulting her, and the general public felt the need to stand up for the weak. Still, in this particular case, it wasn't all that bad.

"That one was kind of expected too. Say, Harry, have you apologized yet?" asked Hermione, but Shirou pretended he didn't hear her while staring intently at some point behind Dumbledore's head.

After that, it was time for the Hogwarts' Champion to be revealed. Everyone in the hall waited with bated breath as the third, and last, piece of parchment got into the Headmaster's hand. Dumbledore then read it with a smile on his face.

"Finally, Cedric Diggory. Congratulation on becoming Hogwarts' Champion!"

For a split second, no one moved or made any noise. Then all of a sudden, cheers and applauses erupted from the Hufflepuff's table as one of their own stood up and walked proudly to join his fellow Champions. At the head table, Professor Sprout could be seen with an exceptionally happy smile as everyone, a very reluctant Severus Snape included, congratulated her and her house on receiving such honor.

"Once again, allow me to give my congratulation for all three Champions," Dumbledore said. "Everyone can now continue to enjoy…"

However, his words died on his throat, and everyone knew why. The Goblet, whose duty was supposed to be finished, changed the color of its flame once again before shooting out another piece of parchment. This time, absolute silence reigned the hall when Dumbledore reached out and hesitantly took it. As the old wizard finished reading what was written, he slowly turned to look at none other than Shirou himself.

On Shirou's part, he had noticed something went wrong the moment all noise vanished the last time around. The atmosphere was still heavy, but in an entirely different way. And when Dumbledore finally turned toward him, he wasn't able to stop himself from letting out a single, deep sigh.

Shirou _knew _that look. Trouble had managed to find him, once again. He couldn't do anything but looked back at the Headmaster with resignation as he heard his fake name called across the Great Hall.

"Harry Potter."

Way to ruin his first proper Halloween feast.

**End of Chapter 16.**

_**A/N: **_**An update. I don't have much to say this time, except addressing a particular review.**

**If you don't like my story/update for whatever reason, just say it as subtly or bluntly as you like. You may not like its length, or outright call it disappointing, or anything else, and you're still fine in my book. But never, I repeat, NEVER let it get personal and telling me that I am, for example, pulling a **_**dick move **_**against my readers.**

**Just remember that I'm using my free time to write this for you and me to enjoy. There's no reason for me to do something like that. I might just let it slip if you were a random reviewer. But since the one who left that review is one of my regular, it hurts much more since I value his opinion much more.**

**So next time, think before you decided to get personal, or else you will know what a dick move is truly like.**

**That said, I still hope that you enjoyed this chapter.**


	17. Chapter 17

"Did professor Dumbledore just called Potter?"

"Potter?"

"I didn't hear it wrong, did I?"

"Must be right. Look, he's standing up."

Murmurs and whispers came from all directions as Dumbledore read the name from the fourth piece of parchment, the one that wasn't supposed to exist. Shirou, realizing that trouble had once again managed to find him, sighed in resignation and stood up, painfully aware of the fact that every pair of eyes in the Great Hall at that very moment were trained on him.

From the corner of his eyes, Shirou could see the expression on the faces of Harry's friends. They were shocked, as expected. Neville, however, also looked thoughtful as his eyes darted between Shirou and Dumbledore. Ron, on the other hand, was gradually losing his cool, if the angry red shade that his face was turning into was any indication.

That would put a dent in Hermione's plan to mend their friendship.

"Harry, please come and join the other Champions," the Headmaster said from where he stood. The twinkling light in his eyes gone as he nodded at Shirou, indicating that they would talk about it later. For now, he just had to play along.

Being annoyed and surprised as he was, Shirou still found himself a little intrigued at the whole thing. He didn't claim that he knew everything about this world's magic, but there should be no magical contract that could bind him, so the Tournament itself wasn't a problem. What he really wanted to know was the identity and purpose of the person who put Harry's name into the Goblet.

_But hold on, _Shirou frowned. Harry Potter was dead. Could this world's magic contract bind a dead person? It couldn't, could it. There would be no point in doing so.

So why did Harry's name still come out of the Goblet? Unless…

Shirou shook his head, trying to deny the thought. If it was indeed what he thought it was, then the problem might be even bigger than what it seemed to be.

The sounds of whisperings and booing followed Shirou as he walked the length of the hall in order to reach the door where the other Champions had passed through. They only disappeared the moment he closed it behind his back, and found himself looking at three others people, all of whom were wearing a mild surprised expression as they saw him.

"Potter?" Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour said almost simultaneously. They glanced at each other for a second afterward, but their attention soon went back to the newcomer. Krum, on the other hand, just looked at him with a slight frown on his face.

"What are you doing in here?" Asked Cedric, obviously confused. "Are we required to go back out?"

"You will know soon enough," Shirou shrugged. He decided that it would be better to let Dumbledore explain the whole thing. Not only the old wizard would be able to word it better than him, but also because Shirou wasn't very happy with him right now, and couldn't wait to see the old man get into a little trouble himself.

They didn't have to wait long, as just a few seconds later, Dumbledore, together with Madame Maxime and Headmaster Kakaroff walked into the room. They were soon followed by Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch. All of them were wearing a solemn expression, with the exception of Kakaroff, and Ludo. The former looked like he was ready to explode, and if anyone looked at the latter, they would say that the man had had his Christmas came early.

From that point on, Shirou's job was just to stand there and put on the most innocent face that he could pull off, answering questions when asked. Needless to say, the other two schools' Heads were furious. They even demanded that Dumbledore and Crouch let their students have another chance to register themselves. Unfortunately, according to Crouch, that wasn't possible as the Goblet's flame had finally extinguished and wouldn't burn again until the next Tournament.

Of course, that bit of information didn't help the situation one bit.

After around fifteen minutes of heated argument, everyone started to leave the room. Kakaroff and Madame Maxime threw Shirou an angry glare as they stormed out. Ludo still looked as jovial as he could be while Crouch and Krum remained passive, not letting their true expression show on their faces. Cedric Diggory glanced at him curiously for a second before he left. The last person, beside Dumbledore, to go out was Fleur, who looked no less angry than her Headmistress.

"I think we should move this to my office," said the Headmaster once there were only two of them left in the room. He then called into the air. "Fawkes!"

A fire bursted from thin air before it died away, revealing a beautiful phoenix. Shirou and Dumbledore both took its tail in their hands, and in just a blink of an eyes, found themselves standing in the middle of the familiar office.

Despite the seriousness of their situation, Shirou couldn't help but think that he definitely liked that method of travelling, much better than Floo or Apparating, in his opinion.

* * *

"That was not how I was expecting about how the Halloween feast would end," Dumbledore sighed as he and Shirou sat on their usual seats inside Headmaster's office. The moment they sat down, Shirou could tell that all of the portraits around them were just pretending to be sleep. He'd become awfully aware of them after the incident with Fleur.

"Neither did I," he nodded. At least they could agree on that.

"Lemon drop?" Offered Dumbledore, motioning forward the familiar bowl of candy. Shirou quickly declined, however, as he didn't want to break the bowl, again.

"No, thank you. I'd rather get the problem out of the way as soon as possible," he said.

"Perhap you're right," answered the old wizard as he pulled out the charred piece of paper from inside his robe and handed it to Shirou, who took it and frowned as soon as he laid his eyes on it.

The piece said 'Shirou Emiya'.

"You know what that means, right?" Asked Dumbledore solemnly.

"Someone else knows about my true identity," Shirou answered, not taking his eyes off of the parchment. His suspicion turned out to be true after all, and it was the worst scenario no less. He tried, but could recognize the handwriting. However, he could tell that it wasn't Adam's. It wasn't like that man knew what his true name was anyway.

"Or, you put it in yourself," the Headmaster replied, looking at him intently. "You're, after all, twenty two years old. My Ageline wouldn't affect you, even when you're in a younger body."

"Me? I have enough trouble to last a lifetime already," Shirou scoffed and glanced at the man in front of him, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. Apparently, he wasn't, his expression told it all.

"You don't trust me," he continued with a casual tone. It wasn't an accusation, just a simple statement. Shirou would be rather surprised if the old man didn't doubt him at all.

"I don't. At least, not completely," replied Dumbledore without flinching. " None of us know you very well. And while I admit that your actions since you came here had nothing but noble intention, it's still difficult to place trust on an unknown, especially when that unknown is, as they say, involving with the shady sort."

"We already talked about that," Shirou merely shrugged, refusing to offer anything else on that matter. He avoided eye contact with Dumbledore, however, as he had a feeling that it could read his mind. While practicing magecraft had helped him prevent any kind of mind affecting magic, Shirou was still wary. It was justified, since the man sitting across from his was somewhat of a legend in his own world. There's no telling what he could do.

Maybe Dumbledore finally saw that it would get them nowhere to continue in that direction. He then switch back to their original topic.

"For now, let us assume that it wasn't you who put your name into the Goblet of Fire. Do you have any idea who did it? Someone else who also know about you?"

"No," Shirou shook his head. "I don't recognize the handwriting, and it didn't seem to be fake."

"I see," a frown showed on Dumbledore's already wrinkled face. "Then I think it's safe to assume that somehow, your identity was leaked. And I don't think I need to say how big of a problem that is…"

Shirou nodded. That was another thing he could agree on. If that mysterious person knew about his true identity, then how long would it take for him to tell someone else? Had he even already told someone else? The worst part was that Shirou couldn't do anything about it, and neither could Dumbledore nor Adam.

Long story short, Shirou might be forced to drop his play earlier than expected. And while he knew that he shouldn't, Shirou couldn't help but feeling a little relieved in a corner of his mind.

"I will see what I can do about it," Dumbledore said wearily from his seat, though just from a glance, Shirou could tell that even the old man himself didn't place much trust in his own words. "For now, I don't think there's any other choice for you other than taking part in the Tournament."

"Just curious, what is the consequence of failing to participate?"

"You will lose your magic," the Headmaster answered. "While I admit that we're using different kind of magic. They are still similar enough for you not to risk the danger."

"Still, can't I get out of it somehow? Breaking the Goblet for example," Shirou continued, not wanting to reveal the fact that he could get out of it any time he wanted.

"Sadly, no. There isn't anyway that I knew of besides killing yourself," Dumbledore shook his head. "Breaking the Goblet wouldn't help. It's just a tool designed to help choosing the Champions. Once the contracts were established, there's no use for it anymore. Besides, it isn't kept here at Hogwarts. Mister Crouch has already brought it back to the Ministry with him when he left."

"That's too bad," mumbled Shirou grudgingly, making a mental note that he was going to destroy the Goblet if he ever got the chance to see it again, to prevent something like this from happening to someone else. For now though, Shirou was contented with it being locked away, since even him wasn't crazy enough to break into the Ministry, not that he even knew where exactly that stupid Goblet was being kept to begin with.

* * *

The meeting with Dumbledore ended shortly after that. Shirou then left the Headmaster's office and simply stood in the middle of the hallway, thinking of a place that he could go. He didn't want to go back to the Gryffindor tower, knowing what was waiting for him there. He hesitated for a moment before heading toward the castle's entrance.

About the Tournament, there were two paths that Shirou could take. On one hand, he could stab himself with Rule Breaker and completely ignore it, dropping his fake identity and freely move forward. On the other, he could, once again, free himself of the contract, but would stay and participate afterward. His real name was leaked, and Shirou would be fooling himself if he said he wasn't at least a little interested in the mysterious person who was kind enough to register his name against his will.

According to what Shirou had heard, he still got sometime before the first task. That meant there was time for him to think his choices over carefully. Still, he should come to a conclusion as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the moment Shirou reached his favorite spot near the lake, his frown deepened. Someone was already there, and he certainly wasn't in the mood for company. For a second, Shirou had considered turning around and leaving. However, his attention was caught by a series of colored lights flashing just behind the big tree that he usually sat under. Feeling rather intrigued, Shirou slowly made his way over, not wanting his presence to be noticed for some reason that he couldn't explain himself. He already knew whom he would find there though.

The moment he moved enough to have a clear view of what was happening, Shirou found himself speechless. Not very far ahead, with her side turned to him, Fleur Delacour was waving her wand, casting spell after spell at what looked like a straw practice dummy. For a moment, Shirou couldn't help but wonder where did it come from, but he immediately smacked himself mentally for that stupid question. Fleur could have easily conjured it for her own use.

However, it wasn't the dummy that he cared about. Shirou only looked at it only for a fracture of a second before turning his gaze back to the witch in front of it. Sure, he had seen plenty of wizards and witches casting spells before, even chained spells like what Fleur was doing. Still, the Death Eaters' rough, unrefined movements and wand work couldn't be compared to what Shirou was watching.

Streams of light were flowing from the tip of Fleur's wand as she moved her hand with great precision. Her footwork and movements, while still rather clumsy, also carried a certain grace to them.

_She was fast, _thought Shirou as he observed the way Fleur's feet glided on the grass surface. Not anywhere near Shirou-fast, but she could give the Death Eaters that he faced a run for their money if it was one-on-one, probably even two-on-one if she was skilled and lucky enough.

Focusing on the way Fleur moved, Shirou almost missed the look on her face as she keep going with her spells. Once he noticed that, a grimace appeared on his face. While Shirou wasn't the most observant of people, it didn't take much skill for one to see that Fleur was furious. Apparently, she was just venting her anger on the poor dummy.

Not having any desire to disrupt her progress, Shirou simply stood where he was and watched. It didn't last very long, however, as at one point, Fleur made a blunder and the spell, whichever one that she was hoping for, didn't come out as planned. She stopped on her track and stared at the dummy for a second before groaning.

"Not again… Always at this point…"

Taking a moment to calm her own ragged breath from all the exercise, Fleur raised her wand again and was about to continue before she finally realized that she had an audience.

Unfortunately, the realization only made her frown deepen.

"What are you doing here?" Ask Fleur while lowering her wand arm.

"Going out for a walk, couldn't stand anyone's question or stare at the moment," Shirou answered, wondering if he should just bid her goodnight and came back to the castle, however unwelcome that idea might seem to be. He then saw Fleur opened her mouth slightly, as if to say something, but she decided against it and settled with a grunt as response.

"That was...beautiful," said Shirou, deciding that he _really _didn't want to return to the castle at the moment. He then quickly added when he saw Fleur's eyebrow rose. "Your spells work, I mean. I've seen people casting spells everyday, but no one ever showed me anything like that."

"Oh… Well. Thanks, I guess," the witch's eyes widened at the sudden compliment. However, her frown quickly came back as she averted her gaze.

"Are you alright?" Asked Shirou as he saw the change in her expression.

"I'm fine," replied Fleur.

"You sure? You looked rather winded up there," Shirou grimaced. He'd had enough experience with people to realize that she definitely wasn't 'fine'. If anything, Shirou himself also used that line often enough.

"I'm fine," she repeated, still not looking at him.

"You're obviously not," pushed Shirou stubbornly. The better part of his mind was telling him to just leave it alone as it wasn't his business. Still…

"Fine, I'm not," finally, Fleur snapped and glared at him. "Why the hell does it concern you anyway?"

"Just me being me, I guess," Shirou shrugged, not even flinched at her hostileness.

"You…" the witch in front of him stuttered, her face red with anger. However, she finally turned away, sat down beside the tree and murmured. "You're unbelievable."

"That's a line I haven't heard for awhile," that made Shirou chuckled lightly. When she didn't respond, he made his way over and sat down as well, carefully put a safe distance between them.

They just sat still like that for a long time. It wasn't comfortable, what with an angry witch being only a few steps away from him, but it wasn't exactly awkward either. In any case, Shirou could freely admit that he'd prefered this over being gawked at by almost everyone wherever he went anyday. The thought managed to pull another chuckle out of him, but as expected, Fleur also didn't say anything about that.

After another rather lengthy moment, Shirou finally decided that it was finally time for him to head back. If Fleur really didn't want to talk, sitting there any longer wasn't going to convince her otherwise. And Merlin knew, he'd had his fair share of magic for the day, enough for him not wanting to pull out his wand and have his own practice session. No, what Shirou really needed right now was some rest, so he could have a clear head to think about his plan in the near future.

However, as he stood up, Shirou heard Fleur's voice from behind.

"Hey, you want to spar?"

"Pardon?" He turned around and looked at her quizzically.

"I ask if you want to spar with me," she repeated, irritation slipped into her voice. "A dummy isn't good enough since it can't move. But… Oh what the hell. Never mind, Potter."

"I never said I wouldn't," Shirou replied, making Fleur, for the first time in awhile, looked at him. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"You would?"

"Why not? I have time to kill, and it looks like you really need a real opponent too," he shrugged. It was true that Shirou thought he was done with magic for the day, it was also obvious that Fleur didn't simply need a spar partner. And if this was the only way for her to talk, then he wouldn't mind to obligate.

"Let's get to it then," Fleur nodded and stood up, resuming her original position before vanishing the dummy. Shirou walked over to replace it and pulled out his own wand.

"Let me warn you first," he said. "I'm not very good at this, and only know a few spells, mostly minor hexes and jinxs that were more like pranks than anything."

He also wisely left out the fact that he only knew about them from reading one of Hermione's book back at the Burrow. Also, she probably shouldn't know that he hadn't even attempted to cast said spells before.

Fleur just nodded at his words, before raising her wand. Though Shirou still could hear she mumbled something that sounded awfully like 'don't know what they are teaching here'. He smiled.

"Ready?" Asked Fleur.

Shirou nodded, raising his own wand.

"Go!"

At her signal, Shirou immediately shot a tripping jinx at her feet, secretly feeling relieved to see it worked. Fleur sidestepped it easily while shooting him an 'Are you kidding me?' look, together with a spell of her own that Shirou didn't recognize. He avoided it without much trouble, only to almost got hit with another one when he stepped aside. His eyes widened for a moment before he ducked his head, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as the spell flew past them.

Before Shirou could regain his balance, he felt the earth next to where he stood explode, sending him flying to the side. Making a quick barrel roll to get on his feet, he was once again greeted with a stream of red light just inches away from his nose. His reflex saved his skin once again as Shirou allowed himself to fall backward and landed on his bum. Unfortunately, he didn't have much control of his body with that way of dodging, and thus, couldn't avoid the next spell that was coming for his chest. He looked around frantically for a second before levitating a rock nearby to shield himself from harm.

Technically, Shirou could have projected one, or even reinforced himself, but decided not to do so. He was certain that no serious harm would come to him during their spar. Also, it wasn't really fair for her if he did something like that.

That, and Shirou was rather surprised to find himself rather enjoy dueling like this, purely the wizarding way.

His thought was cut short, however, when he noticed that Fleur had resumed her assault. Quickly sprang up on his feet, Shirou evaded another spell before banishing a rock at her direction. Unfortunately, Fleur wasn't even fazed as she simply batted it away with her wand before continuing with her barrage.

Shirou didn't mind though. After the initial shock had passed, he was getting used to her speed. That made dodging much more easier. However, it wasn't like he could just dodge forever, so he tried his luck again with the Tripping jinx. When that failed, he changed tactics and used a mild Stinging Hex, which worked rather well for a first attempt. Of course, Shirou didn't expect it to work either, but he was happy nevertheless with his success.

Now that he finally figured out a couple of spells that he could use, Shirou started to picking up his pace and returned fire. He still couldn't match her casting speed and his mouth was starting to get tired from shouting the incantations over and over, but he was making progress. Still, it wouldn't change the fact that he was going to lose if this kept up.

_I have to do something unexpected, _thought Shirou as he leaned out of the way of an incoming purple spell before returned with one of his own. While Fleur was busy dodging that, he silently waved his wand, banishing three stones at his feet and sent them straight at her. He then grinned as he saw her eyes widened. Unfortunately, that grin was soon wiped off of his face as Fleur conjured a shield in front of her, effectively blocking all the incoming 'missiles'.

He wasn't allowed to be disappointed for long though, as the streams of colored light started coming again. They traded spells back and forth for another minute before Shirou saw Fleur waved her wand but nothing came out. Thinking she had made another blunder, he was about to use that chance before feeling something hit his back, making a loud 'thud'.

"Ouch," he frowned and turned around. It wasn't hard to spot a rock rolling on the ground. Apparently, it was the thing that hit him from behind.

"If you want to do something unexpected, at least do it like that," came Fleur's voice. Shirou looked back and see a rather smug grin on her face.

"It was you?" He asked, frowning. "So it wasn't a blunder…"

"Nope. I just silently summoned it," her grin grew a little wider. Shirou was about to glare at the witch, but settled with a sigh and shook his head instead. At least she wasn't so grumpy anymore.

"Fine, you win," he threw both his arms upward and gave her a grin of his own.

"You're not bad, actually. Much better than I expected," Fleur commented, and Shirou made a face, not knowing if he should feel offended or flattered.

"I mean it," she continued. "Despite your awfully poor repertoire of spells…" she paused and grinned again at his scowl before continuing. "...You have amazing reflex. None of my previous partners has lasted that long against that kind of barrage."

"Probably the Quidditch," Shirou shrugged.

"Yeah, probably. Still, you should learn more spells," she nodded and returned to sit next to the tree. Shirou soon joined her, this time sitting a little closer.

"So, who taught you to duel?" He asked after they were properly seated.

"My father," Fleur answered. "I started right after my first year at Beauxbatons. He said that… well, being a Veela could attract trouble, and he would feel better knowing that I could take care of myself. I agree with him."

"He's right," Shirou nodded. He didn't put much thought into it, but Fleur probably had had to put up with all kind of crap from her male schoolmates.

"That he is," she smiled, as if sensing his thoughts. "Some boys indeed tried to make me go out with them in my fourth year. My control wasn't as refined at the time, mind you. That was probably the first time I really use my father's teaching seriously. Needless to say, they didn't dare to go near me for quite some time after that. But I guess they just couldn't resist the allure, and new idiots keep turning up. Everything calmed down when I entered my sixth year though. By that time I could control my power rather well already."

"That must be hard, having a power like that," Shirou said.

"It was hard, and still is," Fleur nodded and smiled a little. "But I don't hate my power."

"I remember you telling me that when we last talked," Shirou nodded and returned her smile. They then fell into silence again, though this time it was much more comfortable than the time before. After awhile, he asked.

"Say, may I ask why were you angry earlier? You don't have to answer though," he quickly added the last part as he saw her eyes narrowed. She wasn't directing it at him, however.

"You really don't know why?" She asked. Shirou almost said that he really didn't know before remembering the look Fleur gave him before she followed her Headmistress out of the room where the Champions gathered.

"Is it because I was chosen as a Champion?" Shirou asked hesitantly, dreading the answer. He was having a rather good time with Fleur, and her answer could ruin it. He knew it _would _ruin it.

Much to his dismay, she nodded.

"But why?" He asked again, starting to feel uncomfortable.

"I don't know," she shook her head and closed her eyes. "I...I really couldn't explain it. You wouldn't understand."

"You're thinking that I put my name in," said Shirou, using the tone that he used with Dumbledore earlier. It wasn't an accusation, just resigned truth.

"You didn't?..." Fleur's eyes shot open as she looked at him. She then quickly waved her hand. "No, of course you didn't. It's just… it's better hearing it from you, I guess. But no, that wasn't why I was upset. It was somewhat related though."

"You didn't think I put my name in?" He asked, surprise apparent on his face.

"Honestly? I had doubts," Fleur shook her head. "I mean, I don't even know you. All I know is that you're a big celebrity here in Britain. And forgive me, your reputation isn't exactly stellar. I heard some rather… unsavory comments from the Slytherins during meal times. Especially from that one boy… What is his name again? Mal… something? You know, blond, always looks like he has something smells bad under his nose?"

"McCoy. His name's McCoy," Shirou supplied, a little too quickly.

"Is that true?" Fleur frowned, as if to concentrate on her memory, but finally shrugged. "Anyway, this McCoy boy had been saying that you're just some attention seeking liar or something along the line."

"I wouldn't listen to everything he said if I were you," Shirou sighed. "He… didn't really like me."

"Seriously? I thought you two were best mates, the way he talks about you…" Fleur raised an eyebrow jokingly. The two of them looked at each other for a moment before chuckling at the same time.

"Anyway, that was what McCoy said," she continued. "But after our conversations, I find it rather hard to believe that you would do something like that just for fame and attention…" She then paused. "But now that I think about it, the money prize is big…"

Shirou snapped his head and looked at her in horror, before he saw her expression. He then burst into laughter.

"You got me," he said, still smiling.

"You're welcome," Fleur returned his smile. "The point is, I'm willing to give you the benefit of doubt, like you did with me and my power."

"That's the best that I can get?" Asked Shirou with a grin.

"Be careful, Potter. Better not push your luck," Fleur answered, though there wasn't any malice in her voice as she said that. Instead, she was wearing a grin identical to Shirou's.

"Well, thanks, I'm really grateful," Shirou nodded. While he was certain that he could stand whatever Hogwarts or the Wizarding World could throw at him, having someone openly declare that they trust him, even just a little, felt better than expected.

"You're welcome, again," she said, looking away from him. "I guess I can understand what you're feeling a little. You know, being alienated by your own schoolmates."

Shirou didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. The two of them fell into silence for the third time that evening, but this time, it was truly a companion silence. In the end though, Fleur stood up and said.

"Well, we better get back. It's getting rather late."

"Yeah, I suppose," Shirou sighed and followed her up. "So...Goodnight?"

"Good night, Potter," Fleur nodded, she was now biting her lower lip as if she wanted to say something.

"What is it?" Shirou asked.

"Well, I wanted to ask if you want to be my spar partner again," she said, finally looking up. "I really need to practice now that I'm a Champion, and I think you'd need it too not that you're forced into this."

Fleur then looked at Shirou nervously while waiting for his answer.

"I don't mind," he said, making her sigh in relief. "Why me though? Why not ask one of your friends? I'm sure they will be glad to help their school's Champion."

"I'm not so sure about that, really," Fleur gave him a bitter smile and turned her head away. It took Shirou only a second to figure out why she reacted like that, and once he did, the feeling of guilt started to bubble inside his stomach.

"Oh… Sorry about that. I didn't mean to…" He stuttered.

"It's fine, Potter," said Fleur, shaking her head. "To be honest, they will help if I ask them, but they won't be happy about it. Except my best friend Claire. You've met her already," Shirou nodded. "She's an amazing girl, but God blesses her, she's rubbish at dueling," she signed in an exaggerated way that made a smile crept onto Shirou's face.

"Besides," Fleur continued. "None of them possesses your reflex. If you're willing to learn more spells, you're going to be a formidable opponent. Exactly the kind that I prefer."

"Like I said, I don't mind," nodded Shirou. "So, when and where are we going to meet again?"

"About that…" Hearing his question, Fleur looked down at her feet worriedly. "...I'm not sure. I think you must know this already, but Madame Maxime isn't exactly happy with you right now. I would get into trouble if she saw me with you. So we can't meet too often… How about the day after tomorrow? We will meet here, same time as today and decide where to go from there."

"Sounds good to me."

"As for where we're going to spar after that, can I leave it to you? You must be much more familiar with Hogwarts than I am. Anywhere is fine, as long as…"

"...Your Headmistress can't see us," Shirou nodded knowingly. "I see no problem with that. Alright, see you the day after tomorrow, I guess."

"Thank you," she beamed a truly happy smile at him for the first time ever since the day they met. And as much as Shirou didn't want to admit it, it managed to make his heart skip a beat. Though maybe it was just her allure power at work and caught him by surprise.

"No problem," he shook his head to clear out the thought. "I think we should go back. Good night."

"Good night, Potter."

They then bid each other farewell and started walking toward different direction. However, it wasn't until much later, right before climbing on his bed, did it occur to Shirou that he had completely forgot to ask about what made Fleur angry in the first place.

* * *

Feeling utterly exhausted, Fleur dragged herself back to her room inside the Beauxbaton carriage. She felt like her emotion was riding on the Gringotts' cart the entire day. First, it was anxiety and anticipation for almost the entire day before they announce the Champions' name during the Halloween feast, then she was absolutely elated to hear her name being called by Dumbledore. She'd become a Triwizard Champion. It was Fleur's sole goal ever since she'd first heard about it a couple of months ago. Finally, a chance for her to prove herself had appeared, and she had done anything in her power to be chosen as a representative, and then a Champion. Now all she had to do was to win the Tournament…

Her happiness didn't last long though. The moment Fleur found out that Potter was also Chosen as the _second _Hogwarts' Champion, she was pissed. However, just an hour later, she calmed down. And now, Fleur was feeling confused and no less spent, desiring nothing more than to be able to collapse onto her warm, comfortable bed and slept the night away. Unfortunately, with her earlier dueling practice and spar, she still had to have a quick shower before having that pleasure.

_On second thought, it isn't such a bad idea, _thought Fleur as she closed the carriage door behind her back and instantly felt her body heated up. It was so damned cold outside, but in her earlier rage, she didn't notice it. The spar with Potter also helped to keep her warm. However, after calming down, they'd talked for a long time, and the chilly wind of the evening had started to get to her.

Needless to say, in that situation, together with all the dirt on her clothes, a hot shower would help immensely.

With that in mind, she quickly got back to her room. The moment she got in there, Fleur was greeted with the sight of her best friend laying on her stomach on her bed, propping herself up with one of her hand, while the other was busy flipping the page of the book she was reading. Hearing the door opened, Claire looked up and smiled brightly when she saw Fleur.

"Back already?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's bloody cold out there, so I don't want to linger," Fleur nodded and made a face.

"I'm glad you feel better," said Claire after taking a long look at her friend. "Did something happen?"

"Why did you think that?" Fleur raised an eyebrow as she rummaged through her trunk to find her pajama.

"Just a feeling," the other girl shrugged. "You were right pissed when you returned from that back room. And I know that just working out wouldn't be enough for you to be, well… this calm."

"Was I really that angry?" Fleur asked, feeling her cheeks heat up a little. "Well, let's just say that I was able to vent my frustration on a live target today."

"The poor soul," Claire mumbled. "May I ask who that was? Or should I go and prepare your alibi for when the Aurors finally turn up because they found a corpse somewhere near Hogwarts' ground?"

"Prat," Fleur laughed as she chucked her pillow at Claire, who ducked her head just in time and joined her in the laughter just a moment later.

"For your information, that was Potter. And no, he's still alive and kicking," she continued before stepping inside the bathroom, undressed and let the hot water wash away the day's stress. She let out a small satisfied moan. Taking a shower was a great idea, no matter how much she was against it before.

"Potter?" Claire's voice came from the other side of the door. "And you didn't kill him? I'm surprised."

"Shut it, Claire," she shouted back. "It's true that I was angry, but it wasn't at Potter, well, not directly at him at least. Also, I think he didn't put his name inside the Goblet, so there isn't any reason for me to be mad at him."

"Directly," the other girl added.

"Yes, directly," Fleur sighed.

"You really believe that he was forced into participating?"

"I don't know," she said hesitantly. "That's what I'd like to believe. But I admit that I don't know Potter very well. I'm willing to give him the benefit of doubt though. In any case, I sparred against him just earlier, and while he isn't a total lost cause like a certain someone, his level was nowhere near enough to take part in something dangerous like this."

"Hey!" Claire's protest made Fleur chuckle.

"What's wrong, dear?" She asked, putting on the fakest innocent voice that she could mutter.

"Just you wait," came her friend's grumble before it all went quiet. Fleur took the chance to finish showering, dry herself off with a quick charm before putting on her pajama and walked out of the bathroom. Once she stepped through the door, she could see Claire, still sitting where she was before, hugging her pillow close to her chest. The look she was giving her, however, unnerved Fleur a little.

"Erm… What's wrong?" She asked.

"Well, I was just wondering," Claire started, staring at her strangely before a wide grin broke out on her face. "It's rare to see you stand up for a boy. Any chance of you fancying him already?"

It took Fleur several seconds to process what she'd just heard. She just stood there and stared at her best friend dumbfoundedly before burst into laughter, again.

"Claire," she started and patted Claire's shoulder, still laughing. "Look, I really love you and all, but you're going crazy, I'm swear. It's true that Potter left quite an impression on me, but fancying him? No way. He's just…"

Suddenly, Fleur found herself stopped short. Just what exactly was Potter to her? She didn't fancy him, that much was certain. Were they friends then? Despite having a rather rough start, they had been civil, even friendly with each other recently. He even agreed to be her spar partner. It was confusing, considering her rather low experience with boys in general.

"Fleur?" Claire asked worriedly, waving a hand in front of Fleur's face.

"What? Oh, I'm okay," She quickly snapped out of her trance and returned to her own bed. "Sorry about that. I was just wondering what exactly should I call Potter. But… Well, I think at the moment, acquaintance works just fine."

"If you say so," Claire shrugged. "Are you sure you're okay though?" She asked again. After receiving a reassuring smile from Fleur, she nodded and returned to her book.

"I think I'll just go to bed. I don't want to look like an Inferi tomorrow morning," said Fleur with a sigh. She lay down onto her bed, turning off the lights on the ceiling and on her nightstand with a flick of her wand. "Good night, Claire."

"Night, Fleur," her friend replied, not looking up from the book she was reading. It didn't take long for Fleur to fall asleep.

**End of Chapter 17.**

_**A.N: **_**First of all, thank you all for your review for the last chapter. It means a lot to me.**

**Secondly, about the story itself. The action returns next chapter. Look forward to it.**


	18. Chapter 18

**The first scene is to thank you for the idea, doraemax.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"Fleur."

Fleur felt someone standing next to her bed and was calling her name. That someone sounded very much like Claire. That girl always wanted to wake up early, way too early in fact. Fleur, on the other hand, didn't want to leave the warm cover of her bed to face the cold weather outside.

For a moment, her hazy mind wondered why it was so chilly.

"Fleur. Wake up," Claire called again.

"No, Claire. I don't want to," Fleur mumbled as she pulled the blanket higher.

"Well, you will have to, dear," her friend huffed. "Madame Maxime want to see you. Emergency."

"Liar, why would she call for me so early in the morning? Go away."

"I don't know, but you need to wake up" Claire answered and went over to shook her body. "It's about the Tournament. She's waiting for you in the Great Hall."

_Tournament? Great Hall? _It took Fleur full five seconds before she finally registered what was said. That was right. They weren't at Beauxbatons at the moment. They were at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament, and she, Fleur Delacour, was one of the Champions.

Just the thought of it was enough to clear the sleepiness from her mind, Fleur opened her eyes and got out of bed, before hastily threw up the thickest coat she could find to shield herself from the cold air. It helped, but she knew it would be worse once she left the carriage.

Come to think of it…

"Claire, did you say that Madame Maxime wanted to see me because of an emergency?" She turned to her friend, eyes widened.

"Yes, why the hell are you still lingering around here?" Claire frowned, waving her wand to cast a quick hygiene charm on Fleur. "No time for bathroom break, she sounded rather urgent."

"But… I can't go out like this," Fleur hastily got out of her pajama and into her school robe. "I need a mirror…"

"No time, you're lovely, dear. Now go," Claire then pushed her out of the door. The sudden hectic, together with the fact that she'd just woken up, left Fleur rather confused. However, she didn't have time to dwell on it. It wasn't until she was halfway across Hogwarts' front yard that Fleur realized something was off. If Madame Maxime had stopped by to see Claire, couldn't she wake her up as well?

Unfortunately, Fleur wasn't allowed to think deeper on the matter, as the collected gasps from a passing by group of Hogwarts students pulled her attention. Fleur looked at them and frowned slightly. They were staring at her with wide eyes while their jaws dropped. Even stranger, everyone she walked past reacted pretty much the same way. It made her feel rather uneasy and had had to check on her control for more than once. However, much to Fleur's annoyance, her power was still in check. Besides, not only the boys, the girls were also affected by whatever it was.

Still, since it was breakfast time, most of the students and teachers were already gathered inside the Great Hall, so Fleur only saw some people who were running late, and they didn't really stop to bother her. In about five minutes, she found herself standing in front of the door that led to said hall. Not wanting to appear out of breath in front of everyone, she took a moment to calm down, and was about to push to door open when a hand reached out, grabbed her wrist and pulled her around a corner, into an empty classroom.

"What on Earth do you think you are doing, Potter?" Fleur asked heatedly, glaring at the white haired boy when her wrist was released.

"I should be the one who asks you that question, Delacour," Potter said as he carefully closed the door. The moment he turned around to face her, however, she could clearly saw his eyes averted away from her face, his shoulders were shaking from suppressed laughter.

"What do you mean by that?" She demanded, taking a step forward. "And that's not even funny, you jerk. My Headmistress needs to see me. Let me out."

"Yeah, I'm sure Madame Maxime can wait," he replied, but lost it in the end and burst out laughing. That confused Fleur even more. Just what on Earth was happening here?

"Look, Potter, I don't have time for joke," she said, trying her best to calm down. "I don't know what is it that you find so funny, but…"

Instead of getting out of the way, Potter simply cut her off by pulling out a mirror from his school bag, and handed it to Fleur. It was beyond her why a boy like him would have something like that so readily, but the curiosity got better of her as she took it.

The moment she looked at it, Fleur's heart almost leapt out of her chest as she dropped the mirror in shock, which was skillfully caught from right under her hand by Potter. Turning to look at him in horror, she stuttered.

"W...Wh...What was that?"

"You want to look again?" He asked, giving her back the mirror while wearing a sympathetic smile on his face. Fleur nodded and took it. By the second time she looked at her own reflection, it wasn't that much of a shock anymore. It still managed to scare the wits out of her though. At the moment, she looked just like…

...an Inferi.

Understanding dawned on Fleur as she remembered the conversation with Claire the night before. That jerk of a friend had charmed her face while she was asleep and made up an excuse to get her out of the carriage. God, she even almost walked into the middle of the Great Hall looking like that. If that had happened, Fleur wasn't sure if she could live it down for the rest of her life.

"That wretched…" She mumbled angrily before pulling her wand out and cast a 'Finite' on herself. Luckily, by the time she looked back at the mirror, her face had returned to normal.

"Yeah, I'm sure your Headmistress wouldn't want to see you like that," Potter nodded and took back to mirror. "You seem to know who is behind this though."

"My friend, Claire. If I still can call her that," Fleur answered, shaking with anger.

"Well, I'm sure she meant no harm," he grinned, earning himself a glare from her. "So a few people have seen you, but at least you didn't show yourself like that in front of the whole school."

"God, don't remind me of that. I can't even imagine how it would be," Fleur hid her face in her hands and slumped down onto the nearest chair.

"What's the worst that could happen?" said Potter reassuringly. "Everyone got a good laugh, and maybe you would be the main topic of discussion for like a week. But they will forget eventually."

Fleur glared up at him and his insufferable grin before grumbled.

"Don't even joke about that, Potter. It's not funny," she then deflated. "I guess I have to thank you though. If you hadn't pulled me away…"

"I usually arrived there much sooner," Potter nodded. "Lucky for you, I was busy practicing some more spells as you suggested yesterday and lost track of time."

"I'm glad you're taking my advice. Seriously, Potter, I'm much more glad about that than you think," Fleur said, giving him a small smile and stood up. "I guess we should get back there."

Potter agreed and put the mirror back into his bag. The action made Fleur raise an eyebrow as she asked.

"Say, do you always carry a hand mirror around?"

"What? No," he looked at her confusedly and shook his head.

"I'm pretty certain that you couldn't have foreseen meeting me and prepared that," she grinned. "Don't be shy. I won't judge, you know."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Potter averted his eyes and mumbled, his cheeks reddened slightly.

"It's perfectly normal for a boy to care about his appearance," Fleur nodded understandingly, though just a glance and you could tell that she was totally making fun of the boy in front of her.

"I tell you, it's not like that," said boy groaned.

"Whatever you say, Potter," Fleur's grin widened as she reached the door, opening it and took a peek outside. "Coast's clear. I'll just go ahead. If you need some makeup, don't hesitate and ask me, yeah?"

Before Potter could retort, she stepped outside and closed the door behind her back before burst into a fit of giggle. He sure was easy to tease, but Fleur guessed she should go easy on him this time, since he was the one who saved her from a lifetime of embarrassment. At the thought, however, her expression darkened a little. She knew that Claire didn't mean any harm. Still, Fleur decided that the evening would be a perfect time to test if she could strangle her best friend to dead and get away with it.

_Or maybe I could just give her an Inferi make up of her own, _she entertained herself with the thought.

If Fleur had come back to the room where Potter was, she would have been able to see him hiding his face in his hand while letting the hand mirror vanish into thin air.

* * *

It was an alright day in Shirou's opinion.

Or at least, as alright as it could be, considering how the day had gone. He woke up in the morning, did his daily training routine before coming back and head for class, all the while wondering just what the hell he was doing, taking them like a normal student.

Considering his recent success in all practical classes, especially Transfiguration, it wasn't entirely bad. Shirou could actually transfigure small animals now. Still a long way to reach the lion that he'd desired, but he was fine with taking one small step at a time.

Lunch was as excellent as always, even more so now that Shirou was able to tune out most of what Hermione, Neville and Ginny said around him. It wasn't such a surprise that those three stayed, despite the rumor about his supposed cheating these days. Ron, as expected, had kept his distance ever since the Halloween feast. Shirou was in no rush to fix that though. He even went out of his way to keep it that way, avoiding confrontation with the redhead as much as possible, much to Hermione's dismay.

The afternoon classes, which consisted of History of Magic, Herbology and Divination, dampened his spirit a little, as Shirou just couldn't bring himself to like them. At least Professor Trelawney proved to be somewhat interesting when she predicted his death, or deaths, and it was getting more and more creative each time they met each other. Shirou wondered if the woman ever ran out of idea.

After supper, Shirou found himself at his regular spot near the Forbidden Forest, practicing his magic. Unfortunately, the duel sessions with Fleur was put on hold after their third meetings. Despite them being as careful as possible, Madam Maxime was getting suspicious. It was getting harder and harder to meet, which was a shame, since those sessions helped Shirou a great deal in getting used to the way Wizard fought.

_Guess I will have to make do with this, _he sighed, trying to cast a silent stunner toward one of the trees and failed. Up until now, aside from Levitation and Banishing Charms, the only spell that Shirou was able to cast silently was the Tripping Jinx. While helpful in certain situations, it was still nothing more than a mean to distract his foes with for a moment. So he moved into something more, and the stunner was one of the first that popped into his mind, since from what he'd seen, it was quite popular and easy to learn. Even some of the third year Hogwarts students could use it verbally.

That said, to cast said spell non-verbally was an entirely different matter.

"Why is it so damn hard?" Shirou grumbled after his twentieth failed attempts. He did everything right, or at least he thought so. The wand movements and incantation wasn't a problem, and he desperately wanted that _tree _to be stunned, but nothing happened.

"Alright, let's take a moment to calm down," taking a deep breath, Shirou lowered his wand. There was no use getting winded up. Before the Fuyuki Grail War, he'd failed countless time trying to practice his magecraft. Compared to that, this was nothing.

It was then that Shirou noticed someone coming from the forest. He didn't see the person, but was able to notice a prana source approaching, which was an improvement. Reinforcing his eyes slightly, he managed to make out her silhouette between the trees. Shirou guessed that the person was a 'she', since he hadn't seen any male at Hogwarts with long hair, with the exception of Dumbledore. The Headmaster wasn't that small though. Neither did he have any breast.

"Who's there?" He asked.

"Oh. It's me," the person replied with a familiar dreamy voice that sent a chill down Shirou's spine, despite not hearing it for quite awhile. "I have been watching you for sometime. You do realize that you looked really stupid, waving your wand at the trees like that, right?"

"Thanks for reminding me," Shirou mumbled. He really wanted to run away now. The uneasy feeling whenever he looked at Luna Lovegood started surfacing. Still, he didn't want to be rude. The girl hadn't even done anything more than speaking a few sentences.

"Glad I could help," Luna nodded and walked closer until Shirou could see her clearly. "Good evening, stranger."

"Stranger?" A frown showed on his face. "We met before, remember?"

"I suppose we did," She nodded. "Still, if you don't want me to call you 'stranger', you should have given me your name."

"I did. It's Harry Potter," Shirou retorted, feeling more and more uneasy as time passed by. There was something really out of place with the girl in front of him. He needed to get away.

"It's not," Luna kept on staring at him as she walked closer, making Shirou unconsciously took a step backward. "I wasn't sure at first. When we met on the carriage, I thought that it was because of the amnesia. But when I saw you during the Daywalkers attack on those roofs, I knew I was wrong."

Her words made Shirou's feet freeze on the spot. She _knew._

"H...How do you know?" He asked, feeling his throat getting dry as cold sweats started to appear on his forehead.

"It's simple," Luna shrugged. "I've seen Harry Potter since my first day here. He was _red. _But you are _grey._"

"What do you mean?"

"I meant what I said, stranger," she said, still in her dreamy voice without changing her expression. "Or should I call you Archer instead?"

"Never mind that," after a moment of silence, Shirou sighed in resignation. There was nothing he could do at the moment. It wasn't like he knew any memory erasing spell, and silencing her by violence was absolutely out of the question.

Besides, a part of him was relieved. He had been dying to drop the play, and now it was busted. Not how he wanted it to happen, but in the end beggar couldn't be chooser.

"So you know that I'm not Harry," he said. "So why haven't you told everyone yet?"

"Not my secret to tell," Luna said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're strange," Shirou looked at her while considering her words. Now that the cat was out of the bag, there was no need for him to escape anymore.

"So I've been told."

"But are you sure it's wise to just talk to me about that? You've seen what I could do. What if I decided to make you keep quiet?"

Luna didn't answer immediately. Instead, she just tilted her head slightly before her already big eyes widened.

"Oh right. Now that you talk about it…"

"You meant you hadn't even considered that possibility?" Shirou couldn't help but raised an eyebrow at the girl. He wasn't sure if she was acting, or just being an airhead.

"Well, seeing that I'm still breathing, I think there's nothing to worry about," she shrugged, and for the first time since they met, smiled.

"I suppose…" Shirou said hesitantly. "Are you going to tell anyone else though?"

"Nope. But I want to know more about you."

"I don't think that's a good idea. It's better if you stay clear from me," he shook his head, a little taken aback with her straightforwardness.

"Why?" Luna pushed. "Is it the same reason that made you push Harry's friends away? A mistake, as I told you."

"It's not a mistake," Shirou growled. Something about her tone annoyed him a little. All this time, he'd tried his best to ignore the guilty feeling in his stomach whenever it came to Harry's friends, and now, this girl was making it out to be something that wasn't worth being worried over.

Or at least, her nonchalant voice seemed to say so.

"And yes," he continued, harsher than he'd intended. "Can't you see that I'm deceiving everybody? If they keep getting closer to 'Harry Potter', imagine how they will feel when the truth is revealed. Believe me, it will, sooner or later. I don't plan to stay here forever."

"That doesn't apply to me, does it?" Luna blinked. "You didn't deceive me, or rather, you couldn't. I know you aren't Harry Potter from the start. There's no need for you to worry about my feeling."

That brought Shirou up short as he started at the petite girl in front of him, his jaw dropped slightly. She was right about that. However, it didn't mean that he should trust her to share anything about himself. Far from it, actually, since even now, Luna was still giving him the chill. Also, he wasn't sure that it was a wise choice to involve a little girl into his messed up life.

On the other hand, Shirou had been dying to have someone that he could talk to. Someone beside Dumbledore who would call him by with true name and someone with whom he didn't have to hold back everything. He knew and had lived through the pressure, but it wasn't until now that he thought about it seriously, and realized how much it burdened his mind to keep away from everyone.

Such a dilemma.

"I'll think about it," finally, Shirou told the girl. "I'm still not sure if it's the best choice. Besides, we need to get back. It's almost curfew."

Instead of answering, Luna just nodded and started heading back to the castle. Before she turned away, however, Shirou managed to catch a glimpse of her disappointed expression. It was a surprise, since every time they met, all she did was to stare at him with her dreamy face.

Shaking his head, he then decided that he would solve this issue later.

After reaching the Entrance Hall, Luna stopped and looked back at Shirou.

"Goodnight, stranger," she said. "I hope we can talk later. Oh, and before I forget. Since you usually practice out there, can you keep an eye out for something for me? The other day I saw something that looks like a mouse with a row of buttons on its back running in the forest. Disappeared before I could catch it though. I think it's a new species and my father would be delighted to write about it."

"A mouse with a row of buttons…" Shirou murmured in confusion before his memory came back. "But that's…"

However, the moment he looked back at Luna, the girl had already turned away and _skipped_ down the hall.

"...my failed transfiguration attempt…" He finished his sentence lamely, knowing that it wasn't heard by the odd girl.

"Well, goodnight to you too, I guess," he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before heading back to the dorm.

* * *

"You gotta be kidding me…" Shirou murmured under his breath as he looked at the scene in front of him. Four caged dragons, in a clearing that was obviously newly made inside the Forbidden forest, were being subdued by teams of Dragon Keepers. From where he was standing, Shirou could see clearly the biggest and fiercest black one brought down by dozens of stunner from all directions. Even so, instead of fainting, the beast looked like it was only feeling dizzy for a moment.

"I wish I could say so," came the voice of an disillusioned Adam somewhere from his right. Earlier, Shirou had received a letter from him, saying that they needed to meet for urgent business. At first, Shirou hesitated and was about to decline, however, the tone of the letter convinced him otherwise after awhile.

"So… These are my opponent on the first task? Am I supposed to defeat a dragon? Or rather, are they expecting the students to defeat one?"

"No, you only have to get pass them. Distracting them enough to get a golden egg from the nest and get away," Adam's voice answered.

"Still a rather high order," Shirou mumbled before taking another look at the beasts. From his point of view, there was no way that they could be as powerful as the dragons from his world, given how human could tame and imprison them like that. However, he imagined that they were still a big pain to deal with without magecraft.

"True, they are a tough case," said Adam. "Do you have any plan to deal with them without revealing your power?"

"Not yet, but I'll think of something," Shirou answered. There was no need to let the man know that the contract of the Goblet was nullified. The ability to get out of any magical contract would be a huge advantage in the future, and Shirou didn't want too many people to know about it, especially someone whom he couldn't trust.

"If you encounter any problem, don't hesitate to contact me. I'll be glad to help you out. Also, since you're forced into the Tournament anyway, keep an eye out for any sign of the one who put your name in the Goblet. It would be rather far-fetched to say that it had something to do with our Jones, but I'm sure that you are curious about their purpose as much as I am."

Shirou nodded before realizing that Adam couldn't see him since he was also disillusioned. He then said.

"I'm planning to do just that."

It was the truth. Shirou wouldn't deny that he had an interest in the one who used his name. However, there was another reason that he decided to take part in the Tournament. He had given it a lot of thought before arriving at the conclusion. Just as with Adam, he didn't want anyone else to know about Rule Breaker's ability, and in order to do so, Shirou would have to compete without using most of Archer's power. Which meant Tracing, archery and swordplay. He supposed that a subtle Reinforcement here and there would be fine.

Obviously, going down this route also meant that he had to keep up the Harry Potter facade for a lot longer than expected. Still, the benefits down the road outweighed a little inconvenience. Besides, he could change his mind any time and stopped competing the moment he got his hand on the culprit who was responsible for him being in this mess in the first place.

_Still, if all three task are going to be like this, it isn't going to be easy, _he frowned at the thought.

"I'm glad to hear it," came Adam's voice once again, pulling Shirou out of his thoughts. "On another matter, have you come to a decision regarding the invitation to our party?"

"Oh, that. Sorry, not yet. I'll answer after the first task," Shirou said. He'd honestly forgot about the party, and now that he was going to face a freaking dragon, Shirou supposed that he wasn't going to have much time to think about it either.

"It's quite alright, Harry," Adam said. "I imagine that you have much to deal with these days."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, I think it's time for us to wrap this up and come back," the man continued. "Dumbledore knew that I'm here tonight, and it wouldn't be good for him to see us together."

After that, the two of them started to get out of the forest. Adam took the lead, while Shirou followed the trace of his magic. It didn't take them long to arrive at Hagrid's shack. There wasn't any light from there, however, indicating that the Gamekeeper had gone out for some reasons.

"I guess we will say goodbye here," said Adam as he cast two 'Finite' on both of them. "I'm looking forward to hear from you, Harry."

"Goodbye, Adam," Shirou nodded and started to walk back to the castle. Despite their difference, he still had to agree with the man that nothing good could come from having Dumbledore seeing them together.

* * *

"Soooo… Dragons," Fleur's voice echoed the in the empty classroom.

"You didn't look too surprised," Shirou commented. They were sitting across from each other, taking a rest after two rounds of dueling. Needless to say, Shirou lost both of them. It was true that he was improving and had managed to last longer against her. But Merlin, the girl sure knew her tricks like the back of her hand.

"I guess not," she said, looking a little flushed. "I might have heard it from Madam Maxime."

"I should've know that the Champions' Headmasters would do something like that… So does that mean Krum and Cedric also knew about it?"

"Krum knows. I talked to him the other day," Fleur said. "Nothing unexpected, given the rumor that I'd heard about Kakaroff that he wasn't the fairest man around. Don't know about Dumbledore and Cedric though."

"I see," Shirou nodded. "Guess I'll have to talk to Cedric later. Fair play aside, it would be extremely dangerous to go up against a dragon unprepared."

"That's true," Fleur nodded. "How about you though? I imagine that now would be the time to be worrying about yourself first. I'm sorry, but from what I've seen of you, you have no chance against that dragon."

"You're right," Shirou sighed. He knew as much. There was no way a little Reinforcement was going to be enough against a beast like that. He needed something else to assist him when the time finally came.

"That said, do you have anything in mind? It's fine if you don't want to tell me though. It's not uncommon to hide your tactic from a fellow champion."

"It's fine, really," he said. "I've been given it some thought. Since my strongest point is transfiguration, I'm planning to use it to create some distraction…"

"A common approach," Fleur nodded. "I sense a 'but' here though?"

"It's because my transfiguration skill is still not that good. It's my best subject at the moment but I've only managed to transfigure a rat so far," Shirou answered.

"Which is around the level of a fourth year," said the French witch. She then looked deep in thought for a moment before continuing. "It didn't have to be an animal, you know. You can make an inanimate object, say, a drum, and charm it to play by itself."

"I'll have to look up that charm first. Sounds like advanced stuff…"

"True. It's a couple of years ahead. The spell's most simple form will be taught during your fifth year and will most likely be in the O.W.L exam. That's why they set an age limit for the participant. The knowledge gap is too big, and it could mean life and death in something like this," Fleur kept going on and on before realizing that she might have said too much and stopped herself.

"Sorry," she looked at Shirou worriedly. "I didn't mean to discourage you."

"Don't worry about it," Shirou waved his hand. She wasn't wrong, there's no way a mundane fourth year student could get through this. "Still, seeing that I have no way out. The only choice is to push forward, no?"

"Then do you want to start practicing now? We can postpone the spar until after the task," Fleur suggested. "I don't think a dragon care much about fighting with a wand after all. I will teach you the spell to make inanimate objects move and you can try it out. Or you can continue practicing animal transfiguration, whichever works better."

"That would be much appreciated," Shirou smiled. "Are you sure about helping an opponent like this? Won't Madam Maxime say anything?"

"Are you kidding?" The girl snickered. "My Headmistress would go bonker if she ever heard of me doing something like this. But it will be more interesting if all of us have equal chance, no? And… well, I don't want you to be harmed."

Shirou raised an eyebrow. It was rare to hear something like that. While it was true that many people back in his world didn't want him to be hurt, they generally understood that his line of work, as well as his ideal, couldn't be achieved without any scratch. Therefore, most of the time, they kept silence or just wish him good luck whenever he was out, doing his 'saving people thing'.

"I...Ah, thank you, Delacour," he stammered a little, not sure how to respond.

"Just call me Fleur," Fleur grinned at his reaction. "I hadn't say up until now but to be honest, being called 'Delacour' sounds a little weird."

"Then please call me Harry," Shirou replied, trying his best to hide the grimace when he heard the sound of Harry's name came out of his mouth. He almost said 'Shirou' there. He wanted to say it. Unfortunately, he still had a secret to keep.

"Alright then, Harry. That's enough rest, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you're right," he sighed and stood up. "What about you, Fleur? How are you going to deal with the dragon?"

"I have my own way," she turned to him and winked. "Just wait and see. For now, just focus on you first, okay?"

**End of Chapter 18.**

**An update! Sorry there's no action (yet, just you wait *insert evil laugh*).**

**Sorry for the delay. This chapter might be a bit short but I think the next update will come along shortly, maybe three or four days after this one. I'm having some free time and couldn't wait to write the first task.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A little later than expected, but here is an update anyway.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The day of the first task had finally arrived.

Unlike any other day, Shirou decided to skip the morning routine, not wanting to exhaust himself before the big event. Instead, he chose to take a walk around the ground, all the while making sure that he had the necessary spells remembered. He decided to discard the plan of using the charm that Fleur taught him, opting to focus on his strongest point - Transfiguration.

Shirou would need something a lot larger than a rat in order to pull the Dragon's attention away from him, and a dog was a sensible choice. To achieve that in the span of over a week, he'd had to push himself to exhaustion almost every single day. He wasn't complaining, since all that effort paid off in the end. While the dog that he could produce wasn't exactly beautiful, it served its purpose, which was running around and making as much noise as possible.

_Yes, I'm ready, _Shirou thought as he finished his walk and headed inside for breakfast. He was nervous, as everyone would knowing that they were going to face a giant beast that could breath fire. However, another part of him was excited. He was going to have an opportunity to test his newfound skill, to see how well he'd adapted to it.

* * *

Two hours later, Shirou was called over by Professor McGonagall while lounging around near the forest, trying to avoid Hermione, Neville and Ginny. Those three, as expected, had cornered him during breakfast. They wanted to wish him luck, which Shirou deeply appreciated. On the other hand, when Hermione started to dig into his plan for the task, then it began to get a little troublesome. Stubborn girl wasn't about to accept a vague answer.

While it was true that she did so out the good will of her heart, that good will was being given to the wrong person. There were also some details that Shirou just couldn't afford to go into at the moment. Therefore, he finished his meal as quickly as possible before fleeing the Great Hall.

"Mister Potter," McGonagall called the moment she saw him.

"Yes, Professor?"

"The Champions are required at the tent for a briefing of the first task. Please get there as soon as possible," she said. "It wouldn't do to keep the other waiting."

"Of course. Thank you," Shirou smiled at the witch as he acknowledged her request. He then bid her goodbye and made his way toward the Champions' tent near the Quidditch field. However, Shirou stopped on his track after rounding the castle's corner when he saw Daphne Greengrass walking toward him.

"Good morning," he greeted. To his surprise, Daphne seemed to be lost in thought and was clearly startled by his voice.

"P...Potter?" She stuttered at the sight of him. "What are you doing here? The Champions are being asked for right now."

"And I'm on my way there," he answered, nodding toward the direction of the tents.

"Then don't let me keep you here," said Daphne briskly. She was going to sidestep Shirou and walk away before being stopped by his arm.

"Wait," Shirou called, a small frown showed on his face as he took in her expression. "Are you alright? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine," Daphne shook her head, not looking at him. She then hesitated a little before continuing. "Have you seen Tracey this morning?"

"I haven't. What's about her?"

"I couldn't find her since breakfast," the Slytherin girl sighed. "She said she would be waiting for you at the Champions tent, but wasn't there when I came looking. I don't know where she went."

"Are you sure you just missed each other on the way?" Shirou asked.

"Well, maybe…" Daphne admitted with a frown. "Anyway, sorry for taking your time. You should go and meet with the others. I'm sure she will turn up sooner or later."

"Alright..?" Shirou nodded, not really sure if it was a good idea to leave her like that. Unfortunately, time wasn't on his side. Besides, what could happen to Tracey anyway. It had only been a few hours since breakfast, maybe she was already at the tent waiting for him as they spoke.

However, she wasn't there. Instead, Shirou found himself arrived a little late as everyone else was already waiting for him inside the tent.

"Ah, he's here. Our youngest Champion," Ludo Bagman let out a relieved sigh at the sight of Shirou, to which he found a little odd but didn't comment on it. On the other side of the tent, far from the entrance, standing the other Champions. Victor Krum only gave Shirou an indifferent glance as he walked in, while a subtle smile graced Fleur's face. Cedric Diggory, however, smiled brightly as he walked over and shook Shirou's hand.

"I'm glad that you're here, Harry," he said before coming closer and whispered. "Thank you for the tips about the dragon. There's no way I could have expected something like that and would probably lose."

"You're welcome," Shirou whispered back, grinning. Cedric then patted his back before backing away.

"Good luck, Harry," he nodded. "Oh, and Professor Dumbledore wants me to inform you that Rita Skeeter is on the school ground, so try to avoid her as much as possible. You're lucky you arrived late, really. She was just here asking us all sort of questions."

"Rita Skeeter…" It took Shirou a few seconds to recall the name. "Oh, that reporter."

"Yes, a nasty one, she is. And I don't usually talk badly about other people," Cedric said, looking a little embarrassed by his own words. "Professor Dumbledore had ordered her to keep away from us, but given who she is, I think she will find her way to get a scoop sooner or later."

"We probably have to watch our back then," Shirou sighed, remembering his discussion about making an enemy out of the press. It wasn't like he was deliberately trying to anger them anyway.

"We better," Cedric nodded. Their conversation was stopped at that point as a movement from Ludo Bagman caught their eyes. The man stepped into the middle of the tent and pulled out a silk bag from inside his robe.

"Champions, please gather around here," he called. The man then waited until all four other peoples in the tent gathered around him before continuing.

"As you've been informed, while given no specific detail, the first task of the Triwizard Tournament is about testing your courage and ability to solve problems when facing an unknown threat. Right now, I have a miniature version of what you're going against right here, inside this bag. Each of you will pick one, and start your performance based on the order written on the model that you picked."

Ludo paused. His eyes swept pass all the champions as if asking if they had any question. When no one else said anything, he cleared his throat and continued.

"After your performance, each of you will receive a number of points, given by the judges. Each judge can give out ten points max, based on the way you solved the problem and the time you needed to solve it, as well as some other minor factors, such as the techniques and the quality of the used spells. Understood?"

All the champions nodded at once.

"Very well," Ludo smiled widely and pushed the bag forward. "Now, who wants to go first?"

Shirou was about to reach into the bag. However, Krum stepped forward and did so before him. The Bulgarian Seeker's hand shuffled inside for a moment before pulling out a tiny scarlet dragon with a number one on it. He then brought it closer to have a better look, only to quickly push the model away after it started to breath out small jets of fire from its mouth.

"Ah, the Chinese Fireball," Ludo grinned widely. "Congratulation, Mister Krum. You will be the first one to perform."

Not being sure about what he was being congratulated for, Krum just frowned slightly before shrugging and returned to his place between Fleur and Cedric. From the resigned look on his face, there was no doubt that he knew what was inside the bag beforehand.

"My turn," this time, Shirou spoke up before the other two. He copied Krum by putting his hand inside the bag, feeling the shapes and texture of the remaining models. They felt surprisingly life-like. Though seeing how they could breath out fire, that wasn't such a surprise.

After deciding on one, Shirou closed his hand around it and pulled out. The sight of a fierce black dragon with a number four greeted him. Learning from Krum's mistake, he made sure the model wasn't too close to his face while inspecting it. For some reasons, this one was even more violence than the previous.

"Ouch, a Hungarian Horntail," Ludo grimaced at the sight of the mini dragon. "Tough luck there, Mister Potter. I advise you to watch out for its tail as much as its mouth when in there."

"Thank you," Shirou nodded, still hadn't taken his eye of the model. Ludo was right, even in this form, the dragon's tail was lined up with rows of sharp horns. He shuddered involuntarily, imagining what would happen to a person if they happened to get hit by those.

With a glance to his side, Shirou was able to catch Fleur's worried eyes looking at him. She turned away, however, when it was finally her turn. Not that it mattered, since Cedric was the one who go third and picked out a Swedish Shortsnout with number two on it. Which meant there was only one dragon left in the bag for her to pick.

"Great," when Fleur finally returned to her place, Ludo put away the bag and clapped his hands together. "Now, we're not so unreasonable to make all of you go into a fight with dragons. No, you will only be required to retrieve a golden egg from their nests. After that, retreat to the medical tent on the other side of the arena."

"An egg?" Cedric raised an eyebrow.

"A golden one at that," Ludo grinned. "Of course, there will be real eggs inside the nests as well, to make sure that the dragons will be protecting it seriously."

"Lovely," Fleur mumbled.

"Isn't it, my fair lady?" The man winked at her before continuing. "Alright, since everyone has known their objective, I'll go outside to announce the start of the Tournament. Please remain in here until you're called. Good luck."

With that, he finally left, leaving the four Champions to themselves.

"From the look of it, you got the worst one, Harry," Cedric said, looking at the mini Horntail in Shirou's hand. "I have a little knowledge about dragons, and that one is one of the most violence species out there."

"Just my luck, I guess," Shirou sighed. He wasn't going to back out in any case. Still, hearing that kind of information definitely didn't help his spirit in the least.

Cedric opened his mouth and was about to reply when someone else entered the tent. Before Shirou could react, he was assaulted by a bushy haired missile, who rushed at him and crushed him inside her bear hug. From the view over her shoulder, he could see two others walked in as well. Neville gave him a nod while Ginny looked like she was about to burst into tear. Both were wearing the same grim expression.

"Hermione? What's wrong, Neville, Ginny?" Shirou asked. The sudden action almost made him flinch and push her away. However, all the thought of doing so vanished from his mind the moment he realized that the girl was practically trembling as she held onto him while all eyes in the room were on them.

"We come here to wish you luck, Harry," Neville answered and Ginny nodded. "We only found out what the task was going to be about awhile earlier."

It took Hermione a rather long time to tear herself from Shirou. She was still shaking, but to his relief, wasn't crying. She said.

"It's dragon, Harry. But you've already known that…"

Her eyes darted to the mini Horntail in his palm.

"I'm sorry for that… I know you don't like being hugged…" She continued hesitantly. "But I can't believe they're putting students against dragons, for Merlin's sake. What if…"

"Let's not go there, Hermione," from behind her came Ginny's voice as the younger girl stepped ahead and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"R...Right," Hermione nodded and took a deep breath to steel herself. "What are you going to do, Harry? I can think of a couple of spells that might have some effects against them, but you will have to aim inside their mouth or they eyes, since dragon skin is very tough and immune to most magic…"

"Hermione…" Shirou called.

"...Or you can distract them somehow, since the goal is only to get pass them, right? There's no need to pull a direct confrontation and put yourself at more risk than it already was…"

"Hermione."

"...Or...or you can use your broom and…"

"Hermione!" In the end, Shirou had to raise his voice to make her stop ranting. Hermione stopped abruptly and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Sorry for that," he mumbled. "I'll be alright, Hermione. I have a plan."

"You do?" Hermione asked, clearly surprised. Behind her, Neville and Ginny were trading a glance between themselves before their attention returned to Shirou.

"Yes, as unbelievable as it is," Shirou replied, making the group of Harry's friends blushed slightly.

"But…" This time it was Ginny who spoke. "It's a dragon, Harry. And you've just managed to perform your first spell not long ago…"

"That's why I busted my arse out practicing. I know my life is at stake here," Shirou answered, unconsciously taking a glance at Fleur, who was watching the conversation in silent. When he finally looked back at the ones in front of him, he saw Neville giving him a quizzical look but didn't say anything.

"Well… But even so…" Hermione was about to retort. However, Shirou raised his hand to stop her.

"I will be fine, Hermione. I promise," he said, making his voice to be as comforting as possible. "I'm grateful that you've all come down here for me. Just trust me this time, okay? I know it's a lot to ask for given how I treated you. But really, I've escaped death many times before, no?"

"Harry's right, you know," Neville said, smiling awkwardly as he realized that the attention was shifted to him. "Well… I mean… If all of your adventures here are true…"

"And they are," Hermione nodded as she finally managed a small smile as well. "Fine, Harry. Just… be careful out there, okay? And come back alive."

"I will," Shirou nodded, still not sure about giving them more hope of rekindling their friendship. Still, seeing Hermione's miserable state from earlier made it difficult for him to just brush her aside like he always did.

"Good luck then," Hermione said. "Actually we aren't supposed to be in here, so we have to head back to the stand now."

"Good luck, Harry," Ginny said.

"Be careful, mate," Neville nodded.

The three of them then said goodbye to Shirou and left the tent, leaving him behind with an obvious feeling of three sets of eyes on his back.

"That was...interesting. You have good friends," Fleur was the first one to comment after a moment of silence. Next to her, Krum could be seen nodding slightly.

"I still can't understand why you're pushing them away though," Cedric shook his head. "Not that it's my business, but I think friends like those are to be treasured."

"It's for their own good," Shirou sighed. At his words, Cedric just raised an eyebrow but decided not to comment any further.

* * *

"Well, looks like it's my turn. Good luck, you two," Cedric said as his name was announced. Krum's part just ended a few minutes ago, and from the sounds of it, it was one hell of a performance. Apparently, the guy had used some kind of curse, aimed for the dragon's eyes. It was a wonder that he wasn't crushed when his opponent was thrashing around in pain. Seeker's reflex might have played a part there.

"Good luck," Shirou nodded as he watched the boy walking out of the tent after giving him a thumb up. He then turned to the only champion left inside the tent beside him.

"Are you alright, Fleur?"

"I...I'm fine," Fleur nodded. "Just a little nervous, but I'll be fine. How about you? You seem oddly confident."

"No use worry about it, I guess," Shirou shrugged. "I've faced worse things before."

"Not a reason to be reckless," the French girl glared at him and swatted his shoulder. Their conversation was interrupted at that point with a collection of loud gasps from outside, together with some commentaries from Ludo.

"_Very risky, that,"_ the amplified voice came from outside. _"He was almost burned alive. Merlin, I can't even watch anymore..."_

It continued for awhile before things calmed down enough for the two of them to resume talking.

"But I'm not," Shirou retorted. "I just don't want to freak out before the big event, okay? Your tutelage really helped."

"Oh… Alright," Fleur seemed to deflate after hearing his words. She then averted her eyes from him, looking at the tent entrance that led to the arena. "So… Those three from earlier…"

"They're fellow Gryffindors," Shirou answered.

"You guys looked closer than that though, or hugging people like that is the norm here in England?"

"Not really, no," he said, scratching the back of his head. "We used to be friends, I guess. Not anymore."

"I'm not so sure about that," Fleur mumbled, still not looking at him. "Like Diggory said, it's not my business, but they still want to be your friends, Harry."

"They do," Shirou nodded. "It's not possible though."

Another collections of both gasps and cheers came in.

"Why?"

"Why do you want to know?" He frowned slightly.

"Because…" The girl finally turned to him. However, upon seeing his expression, she just shook her head and looked away again. "Never mind. Like I said, it's not my business."

After that, no one said anything as they sat in silence and listened to the commentary of Cedric's performance. It appeared that the Hufflepuff boy had chosen the same tactic as Shirou's, utilizing transfigured animals to distract the dragon. Finally, a series of loud cheering and clapping noise came in, signalling that it was finally over.

"My turn," Fleur mumbled and stood up from her seat next to Shirou. She then looked at him and smiled. "Good luck, Harry. See you on the other side."

"You too, Fleur. Don't take too many risks out there," Shirou nodded, wondering if her previous bad mood was just his imagination.

Fleur's part didn't take long. The French girl had used some kind of hypnotism on her dragon and it worked, giving her a relatively safe path to the eggs. Unfortunately, it seemed like her opponent snapped out of it at the last moment, right before she entered the medical tent, and breathed fire at her. She escaped though, but not without some minor burns.

"Finally," whispered to himself, Shirou stood up, waiting for 'his' name to be announced.

* * *

"_Last but not least, we give you Hogwarts' second Champion. HARRY POTTER!" _Ludo Bagman's magically amplified voice resounding through the entire arena and the stands around it. Shirou had somewhat expected it, but was still a little taken aback when it was mostly 'booing' and whisperings that greeted him. Only the Gryffindors seemed to cheer for him from their own stand, and he knew for a fact that not every of them was doing so.

Stepping inside the arena, Shirou then took his time to take in his surrounding. He was in a large, rocky arena that proved plenty of cover from the dragon's fire, but not its tail. Around it, behind some layers of wards, were the spectator stands as well as judge's table. The Headmasters and Headmistress from all three school were sitting there, as well as Mister Barty Crouch. Ludo Bagman was standing right next to them, making Shirou wonder how in the world that they could endure the man's high volume voice at such a close distance, and whether there was a spell that could turn yourself deaf when used.

"Well hello there," finally, his attention turned toward his opponent, the giant, ugly, and violent looking Hungarian Horntail that occupied the space in the middle of the arena. Underneath it was the nest, which housed several dragon eggs, as well as a golden egg in the middle, if Shirou's reinforced eyesight wasn't tricking him.

And for a moment, he was surprised to feel a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. The nervous feeling inside him was gradually settled down, replaced by the growing excitement that he'd felt ever since he woke up that morning.

"_Can you believe that?" _Ludo's voice came again. _"Merlin, am I seeing it true? Our youngest Champion was grinning. Do I need my eyes checked or he has finally gone insane from the pressure? I hope it's neither…"_

Shirou snorted at the man's words before tuning them out altogether. He needed to be focused. Without magecraft, a single mistake could prove to be costly. Taking a deep breath to center himself, Shirou then raised his wand and transfigured a nearby rock into a dog. It wasn't very easy on the eyes, but he could manage. Just to be sure, he also applied a _Sonorus _charm on the dog, so that its barks would be loud enough to attract the dragon. Shirou had asked Fleur about the charm a couple of days ago, wanting to be as certain about his chance as possible.

"_...and he appeared to be using the same method as Cedric Diggory…" _Ludo's voice came together with a wave of booing. Shaking his head, Shirou crouched down and sent the dog to the left side of the arena. He then started moving slowly toward the opposite direction, all the while keeping his eyes on the Horntail. It appeared that at their current distance, he wasn't perceived as a threat and was left alone.

When Shirou finally got near enough, and the dragon started eyeing him, he took a glance at the dog on the other side. Apparently, its small size was of no danger to the nest and it was ignored. Taking his chance, Shirou raised above the rock he was hiding behind and cast a stinger at the dog. True enough, the moment the curse hit, it started barking loud enough to make him cover his ears before ducking again.

The tactic seemed to be working. Startled by the noise, the Horntail turned its attention to the dog and started growling, flame flared dangerously through its nostrils. Shirou decided to seize the chance and reinforced his body as much as possible without making it too obvious, before dashing out from his hiding place toward the nest.

Unfortunately, his sudden movement caught the dragon's eyes. However, it appeared to be torn between two different threats for a few seconds before turning to Shirou and released a column of fire at him. It barely missed as he managed to slide behind another rock. Even then, the flame still caught a little of his hair and the back of his clothes.

"_Soooooo close. My heart almost stopped there. Merlin, Mister Potter was even more reckless than Mister Diggory in his approach…" _Ludo commented and Shirou couldn't help but agree with him. That flame had come much closer than he'd intended. And what was worse? The dragon still hadn't let up yet. From his position, Shirou could feel the heat getting through. He probably wouldn't be surprised either if the other side of the rock had started melting.

After around twenty agonizing seconds, the flame finally stopped, but Shirou decided to wait for a few moment just to be sure before peeking up to check. Sure enough, his cover had been melted by half. On the other hand, the dog was doing a fine job as the dragon once again turned his ugly head away.

"Almost there," Shirou mumbled and jumped to action, dashing toward the nest as quickly as he could while being mindful of the beast in front of him. It looked even more impressive now that he'd gotten close. The legs alone would be enough to crush any man unfortunate enough to be on its path.

As he got closer and closer to his target, Shirou winced when a visible snap sound came from the other side of the arena, replacing the barks. He didn't even need to look back to know that his transfigured dog was finished by the Horntail's sharp teeth.

After a threat had been dealt with, the dragon turned to the other one whose name was Shirou Emiya. However, he refused to stop. The nest was right within his reach, all he needed to do was…

Shirou leapt forward, barely avoided another fire column as he grabbed the golden egg. He then made a barrel roll on the hard ground before getting back to his feet in a fluid motion and rushed toward the medical tent. There was no need to look back, the dragon wouldn't be able to turn around fast enough to give him another taste of its flame…

"Shit…" Shirou's eyes widened as he sensed something moving on his left side. He couldn't believe that he actually forgot about the freaking tail. Risking his secret, he reinforced his legs a little more and jumped up, feeling the sharp horns grazed his legs that sent him tumble down and landed on his back.

"Ouch…" He murmured as the air was knocked out of him. "I guess it could be much worse. Stupid me."

Without wasting any more time, Shirou sprang up, ignoring the pain on his wounded leg and started running again. The exit was right in front of him as he dashed toward it…

"What the hell?" Shirou yelled and braked himself just in time to avoid slamming into someone who came through the door into the arena.

"Tracey?" He asked, looking up at the newcomer, followed by three other Champions, who appeared to be trying to hold her back. "What in Merlin's name are you…"

His question, however, was drowned by a collective gasp, this time with Ludo joined in, and a loud breaking noise from behind him. Quickly make a turn, Shirou looked behind and horror dawned on his face as he saw the Horntail broken from its chain and was heading toward his direction.

"Oh, screw me," he muttered as, once again, a column of fire rushed from the beast's opened mouth to where he was standing. The only different was that, he wouldn't be allowed to dodge this time, or the group behind him would get it.

* * *

"NO!" Hermione and Ginny screamed in unison as they saw the dragon flame engulfed their friend and the group behind his back. A few seats behind them, Professor McGonagall could be heard shouting the same thing. Not that it mattered at the moment.

"Harry!" The bushy haired girl called as she sprang up from her seat, knowing that her voice couldn't reach the boy inside the arena. Blood was drained from her face as she witnessed the brutal scene in front of her.

It couldn't be happening. Didn't Harry promised that he would be careful, that he would come back? He had survived through things much worse. He had killed a possessed Quirrell, a bloody basilisk and traveled back in time to save his Godfather. Even hundreds of Dementors couldn't kill him. There's no reason for him to just roll over and die now.

_But no one could have survived something like that, _the more logical part of Hermione's mind told her that despite her wish, it was happening.

The entire spectator and judge stands were in a uproar as people rushed forward to take a closer look, or shouting orders. The dragon handlers started pouring in the arena and casting spells to subdue the beast. But did it matter anymore, if her first and best friend was now dead, burned alive?

Hermione felt tear streamed down her face as she slumped onto her chair. She found out that Ginny was also crying while holding her hand. On her other side, Neville remained standing, his eyes widened, unable to believe what they were seeing. Even Ron, who was sitting a few rows in front of them, appeared to be speechless as he looked at the place where his former best friend was standing just a moment ago.

"He… He can't be dead, right?" Ginny asked in a choked voice. No one answered, or at least, that was what Hermione thought, since Harry's fate was so obvious.

"Yup, he's still alive," came a voice from behind them. Hermione snapped her head around and looked at the newcomer.

"Luna. What do you mean by that?" She asked, glaring at the girl with tear filled eyes. For the life of her, she couldn't understand what kind of cruel joke the girl could be making right now.

"You don't believe me," Luna, on the other hand, replied with her usual dreamy voice. "So why don't you take a look for yourself?"

Hearing her words, Hermione once again turned around just in time to see the fire cleared out. To her surprise, as much as delight, in place of what she expected to be a burned up ground, she saw some silhouettes. However, the girl quickly became confused, then a little frightened when the smoke started to get thinner.

Nearer to the entrance of the medical tent, the group of Champions together with Tracey Davis were all clustered up, no doubt waiting for the worst ending that wasn't going to happen, while in front of them standing another figure. What scared Hermione, however, wasn't the figure itself, rather it was the fact that he was standing behind what looked like a disintegrating, shining, six petals flower, and that, in his hand, was a very familiar long black bow that was being aimed at the rampaging dragon.

* * *

Shirou should have expected that the Horntail's flame would manage to break one of Rho Aias's layers, and now he was feeling like crap due to the shield being damaged.

On a happier note, he was still alive, and so were the ones behind him. It would be perfect if it wasn't for the damned dragon that was currently rampaging in front of them. It appeared that in its current state, the beast could shake off most of the curses that the handlers were using, while the rest only served to enrage it even more.

A lot of people were going to die at this rate.

"Harry…Wh...What is that?" Fleur's voice came from behind him, no doubt questioning him about Rho Aias and the bow was currently in his hand.

"All of you, get back inside the tent," Shirou said instead of answering. In front of him, the shield had completely dissolved, and he sure as hell didn't want to have to use it again.

"_I am the bone of my swords," _stepping forward, Shirou muttered, feeling the od flooded his Circuits as he reinforced his body even further before tracing a sword into his free hand.

Gram, the sword that Sigurd used to kill the dragon Fafnir, was a sensible choice. It would be overkill if Shirou were to invoke its full power, but if handled carefully, it would be able to kill the dragon with only one shot.

With Alteration applied, Gram's shape started to change into that of an arrow. Shirou then loaded it into his bow, took aim while channeling a little of his od into the weapon, making it glow dimly in the daylight. The moment he felt that it was enough, Shirou released the arrow. It was going to be a direct hit.

Unfortunately, when Gram almost reached its intended target, the dragon's head jerked aside due to an unified attempt at Stunning curse from the handlers. Instead of hitting the beast between its eyes like Shirou had intended, the arrow only grazed its left eye, making blood burst out from it before hitting the ward's boundary, shaking the entire arena.

The pain from the ruined eye made the already mad Horntail even more furious. It turned its ugly head toward the group of handlers and let out another fire column. Most of them dived away in time. However, the two in the middle weren't that lucky and were burned alive by the raging flame before they could even scream.

Swearing under his breath, Shirou dashed forward. The dragon was going to swing its tail at the downed handlers, and they weren't in any position to dodge an attack like that. Reinforcing his body to the limit, he then dismissed the bow and traced another Gram before using it to meet the incoming horned tail. He raised the sword above his head, and with a big swing downward, severing the tail from the rest of the beast's body.

The dragon howled in pain, stomping around, making the ground shake as blood shot out from the cut. Shirou managed to push a handler out of harm's way while grabbing another and jumped sideway just in time to avoid being crushed by its massive foot and claws. The two of them rolled on the rocky ground a few times before coming to a stop.

"Th...Thank you," the handler said in a shaky voice.

"Don't mention it," Shirou grumbled. "Pull your team out of here. I'll take care of it."

"But…"

Without waiting to hear the retort, Shirou leapt back to the action. Above him, numerous copies of every dragon-slaying swords that he could think of started appearing out of thin air and shot themselves toward the wounded Horntail. Shirou was choosing quantity over quality, since tracing many swords was easier on his circuits than focusing on unlocking a specific one's power. The collateral damage would be much smaller too.

He kept the assault going while steadily making his way toward the beast, Gram in his hand. Each time a sword struck, it pierced the dragon's thick skin without fail. Gradually, the blood loss and pain started to take effect. The dragon was now swaying, trying to keep its balance. It wasn't working, however, as just a few seconds later, it finally succumbed to the wound and fell, shaking the ground one last time.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't supposed to end like this," Shirou mumbled as he stood right next to its head, trying to ignore the stench of blood. The beast was now too weak to have any respond beside making some kind of growling from its throat. Its good eye, on the other hand, looked like they were glaring at him with pure hatred.

With quick, decisive move, Shirou brought down Gram, struck right at the space between the dragon's eyes. He couldn't bear to watch it anymore and wanted to end its suffering as quickly as possible. With a final growl, the Horntail gave his last breath and stopped moving altogether.

_Now I need to get out of here, _with his secret busted, it was time for Shirou to disappear. Letting all of his traced swords vanish, he then turned away from the dragon's corpse and was about to make his escape before being brought up short once again.

"Tracey? What..." He asked, clearly startled. It wasn't her presence that startled him though. The two of them had spend enough time together for him to recognize her od signature. Said signature, however, wasn't entirely hers anymore. There was something else mixed in it. Shirou managed to notice it only because they were standing so close together.

Damn Hogwarts and its ancient wards.

It was that moment that Shirou's instinct screamed at him to dodge, and he did just that. Unfortunately, it was a second too late. The cutting curse that Tracey aimed to take his head missed, but was still enough to give him a deep cut on his neck. Shirou grunted in pain and quickly brought his hand up, pressing against the wound as blood started pouring out. He was getting dizzy due to blood loss.

"What the hell…?" Shirou growled, but unable to finish his question as he had to jump back to avoid two Stunners fired from the entrance. In front of him, Tracey suddenly collapsed like a stringless puppet.

_Now this is grand, _Shirou thought sarcastically. From his place, he could tell that the Slytherin girl was merely unconscious. He, on the other hand, had a much more urgent matter to take care of, namely stopping the blood and getting his arse out of Hogwarts as quickly as possible.

If only it was that easy. The moment Shirou steadied himself and was about to make a mad dash to one of the entrance, a voice, obviously magically amplified, boomed all over the arena.

"_Stay where you are, Archer, and put your hands where we can see them. You're under arrest!"_

As if it was a signal, at least two dozens of witches and wizards in Auror uniform poured in and surrounded Shirou, each of them with their wand raised, ready to take action. Shirou, on the other hand, was trying his best to keep his vision from being clouded while asserting the situation. To put it simply, he was royally screwed. In his current sorry state, there was no way for him to make it out without bloodshed. Even if he could, there was no way he was going to get far with this kind of wound, not without having a Portkey or knowing how to Apparate.

With a resigned sigh, Shirou acknowledged that he had been set up. Someone wanted him out of the game. Tracey's unexpected behaviours, the dragon's chain breaking, and now the Aurors' timely arrival, they were too precise to be a mere coincidence. Whoever did this, had done a great job so far.

"That's it, I guess," Shirou smiled bitterly as he watched the red light of a Stunner flying toward him. It was the last thing that he saw before everything became pitch black, and he knew no more.

**End of Chapter 19.**


	20. Chapter 20

Hogwarts was in a big panic. Despite the Professors' best effort to rectify the situation, there wasn't a single soul left that didn't know about Archer's appearance, or that the infamous vigilante was actually Harry Potter.

Of course, not everyone was that dumb. Many of them had been able to connect Harry's convenient amnesia with the time that his appearance started to change. After only two days, a new wave of rumor appeared, stating that Archer wasn't actually Harry, and that the real one had already been either killed or kidnapped.

If only they knew how close to the truth that was.

On the other hand, not everyone was in the mood for gossips. There were some certain groups within the ancient walls who had been rather subdued after the fiasco.

"Come on. Cheer up, Fleur," Claire patted her best friend's shoulder on their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. "You've been moody for the past days. Staying in the same room when you're like that is a nightmare, you know."

"I'm sorry," Fleur sighed. "It's just…"

"Like I said, forget about that jerk already," Claire said. "Also, he deceived everyone, not just you, you know."

Of course she knew that. Still, Fleur couldn't help but wonder just why Harry, or rather, Archer, did something like that. He deceived everyone to keep his identity hidden, and that was somehow understandable. But for what reason that he kept hanging out with her? All of their spar and practice sessions, there was no way that was his true power. A man who could wandlessly produce a shield charm strong enough to stop dragon flame, and even killed one, surely wouldn't need help from someone of her calibre, no?

_My tutelage helped, right,_ she smiled bitterly, recalling the words that he said in the champion tent. If there was one thing that Fleur hated the most beside being discriminated because of her blood, then that was people lying to get close to her. And here she had hoped that they could become friends.

To sum it up, Fleur's mood had reached a new low during the last days. By the time they reached the Great Hall, the appetite was all but gone, but she knew better than skipping a meal. No matter what the situation, she was still a Triwizard Champion. There were two more task ahead that would be just as, or even more dangerous than the first. It wouldn't do to let her physical body suffer because of some lying bastard.

Unfortunately, Fleur's newfound resolve was mercilessly crushed during breakfast, when the owls that brought newspaper arrived and drop the latest issue of the Daily Prophet in front of her. At first, Fleur ignored it, however, after a second glance, her face went pale after seeing picture of her and Archer sitting together under a big tree near Hogwarts' lake on the night they had their first spar session. That wasn't all, beside that picture, there was also one of the girl called Hermione hugging him inside the champion tent, and the last one was of himself and the Slytherin girl sitting together in a room looked like the library.

"What's wrong, Fleur?" Seeing Fleur unusual reaction, Claire asked before following her gaze. "What the hell is this?"

The girl then picked up the newspaper so that both of them could read the article together.

_LOVE TROUBLE AT HOGWARTS!_

_Good morning, readers!_

_Your favorite reporter, Rita Skeeter is back with her biggest scoop up to date. I'm sure that all of you have heard about the vigilante Archer being arrested at Hogwarts a few days ago under the guise of our beloved Boy-Who-Lived. I have received many fan mails, asking why there isn't any article about that. While I admit that it was as juicy of a scoop as it gets, my attention was focused on something even bigger, the one that you're reading right now._

_Right after the news of the arrest got out, many people have posed the question: How long have Archer impersonated Potter? There are many theories, but the two most popular ones are either from the start of the new term at Hogwarts, or from the end of last term, after Potter's unfortunate accident with the Dementors. Either way, Archer had done a good job at fooling everyone about his real identity. Even after his appearance started to change, very few people had doubted, especially since Harry Potter's closest friends still believed in him._

_Of course, I'm not going to deny that it was mostly our fault for being careless. Therefore, I think it's only natural that there are still many young girls out there who are going after 'Harry Potter'. Up until now, three of them appeared to have succeeded to some degree…_

The article then went on and on into details of some of their meetings, before going on a series of scandalous suggestion about the three girls, as well as Archer himself. Fleur's face was gradually getting hotter and hotter and her hands started to tremble as she read, both from anger and embarrassment. While she couldn't speak for the two other girls, there was no way that she would purposely get close to someone simply because they were famous or wealthy. _She _was the one who was deceived here…

_Just how did this woman know about something like this? _Fleur wondered. She remembered being interviewed by this Rita before the first task. Nasty woman. However, if what Cedric said was true, then Dumbledore had ordered her to keep away from Archer. There was no way that Rita could be close enough to them to take those pictures and even hear what they said without being noticed.

"What a load of crap," Claire growled from her seat before taking the paper from Fleur's hand and burned it with a wave of her wand. She then turned to look at her best friend. "Don't pay any mind to it, Fleur. You know it's not true."

"Yeah, but…" Taking a look around, Fleur grimaced as she felt the gaze of almost every student in the hall on her. The pressure was almost unbearable. "I...I think I should head back. I need some rest."

Standing up on her slightly shaky legs, Fleur then bolted from the Great Hall.

* * *

From the Slytherin table, a grim faced Daphne Greengrass barely registered the Beauxbatons' champion leaving the hall. Most of her focus was still on the slander article from Rita Skeeter. That woman, how dare she, Tracey was still unconscious in the Hospital Wing after the Archer fiasco and she had already been accused of being a greedy, fame seeking scarlet woman.

On second thought, maybe her being unconscious was a good thing. According to Madam Pomfrey, there was no permanent danger and Tracey would recover completely. So it was better for her to remain there, not facing the public opinion at the moment while getting some well deserved rest. She would have to know eventually, but Daphne was going to make sure that it was after her friend got healed.

Sighing deeply, she then leaned back on her seat and folded the newspaper, trying her best not to squish it into a ball of paper and feed it to the flame. Doing so wouldn't help her image after all. Her gaze then swept past the Lion's table. Unsurprisingly, Hermione Granger was also absent. That was how it normally was these days. Ever since Archer was arrested, the bushy haired witch had almost disappeared, only showed her face during classes. It surely was a big shock for her, figuring out that her best friend, whom she placed all her trust in, wasn't who she thought he was. The fact that he was also a wanted criminal didn't help at all.

_Still, it was a surprise for me as well. That idiot really is Archer… _Daphne pondered. She for once, couldn't care less if he was the genuine Harry Potter or an imposter. They hadn't even talked to each other once before the whole Archer thing anyway. But to let a big deception like that went right under her nose was quite a blow to Daphne's pride. She was curious about the mysterious Archer, almost even obsessed at times, only to have the chance to find out about him slipped away.

_That was quite careless of me, _Daphne sighed. It didn't matter though. Someone with power like Archer wouldn't be held in captive for long. And if he truly worked for her father, which was most likely the case, then they would meet again soon. There was no need to rush.

Patience was a virtue, and the Slytherins had an abundant amount of that. Or at least most of them did.

* * *

In the bone chilling darkness of number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, came a series of clanking noise and the creaking of the main door being opened. A moment later, rows of candles running along the hallway lit up, revealing the sorry sight of what was once the luxurious Black Estate. Right now, all that left was a dirty broken house.

"Damn. That sorry excuse of an elf really left this place to rot, huh? Probably on the order of my dear mother," Sirius Black's voice came as he admitted himself into the house. Following him was several other figures, who were also busy gawking at their surrounding.

"It's a ruin, but we can fix it up with a little effort," Molly Weasley spoke up.

"A little?" Came a chuckle from Remus Lupin. "I have to say, Molly, for us normal human, it would be quicker to tear down this house and build a new one."

"Great idea, Moony," Sirius turned back at his old friend and grinned. His eyes shone mischievously, with only the slighted hint of insanity from his long stay at Azkaban. "I've been wondering why we haven't done that already."

"Probably because all of the protection spells surrounding this place," the last person of the group, Arthur Weasley, offered his opinion. "Let's get inside. Professor Dumbledore will come soon."

The others agreed. They then moved cautiously, with Sirius at the front, toward the dining room. While it was true that the house looked abandoned, there might be some nasty traps set up by the insane house elf Kreacher on the order of the late Lady Black, to prevent thieves and other kinds of disgrace from rummaging through what was left.

Once the group finally reached the dining room, the first thing they did was to check for curses and such. When none was found, Molly Weasley, with the help of her husband and Lupin, started to clean the place up. There wasn't much they could do given the small amount of time left until the meeting, but at the very least, they should make this place look livable by human beings.

The moment the old clock told them that it was nine in the evening, Albus Dumbledore, who was also the host of the meeting, stepped into the room, followed by two other Hogwarts professors, Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. Sirius instantly stood up and grinned at two of them while exchange greetings, before throwing a look of contempt at the last one. However, he was feeling rather subdued when he saw their solemn faces.

"I don't know what is it, but it's that bad, huh?" Sirius asked, but no one answered him.

"Looks like everybody is here," Dumbledore said as he took the position at the head of the long table, while the rest sat on the sides. "First of all, let me apologize to Sirius, for forcing you out of hiding this early. However, things that are out of my control had happened, and I feel the need for us to gather."

"I understand, but why here?" Sirius asked, giving his arm a wide arc at the room they were in. "There should be plenty of other places that are more… lively, you know."

"I admit that livelihood had slipped from my mind when choosing a meeting place," Dumbledore offered a playful smile. "However, this place is maybe the most secure in the entire English Wizarding community, after only Hogwarts and Gringotts. It's a perfect place to use as our base of operation for what's to come."

"That… doesn't sound too comforting…" Lupin frowned, and Sirius wholeheartedly agreed with his old friend. His personal hatred for this house aside, to hear that Dumbledore needed a base of operation couldn't be a good sign. The last time he'd had witches and wizards together like this was to fight off one of the most dangerous Dark Lord - Lord Voldemort.

"It doesn't," Dumbledore said, offered no attempt to hide the grim expression. "The meeting today is for Sirius and you, Remus. The rest of us are also involved, but not as deeply as you two are."

For some reason, those words send a shiver down Sirius's spine. There weren't many things that concerned both Remus and him at the same time, not during the last fourteen years anyway. And the first thing that came to his mind when hearing of things like that…

"Did...Did something happen to Harry?" Sirius gulped. From the look on his face, Remus had come to the same conclusion. It was made even more evident when he looked at the Weasleys' face. There was something about them when they first met, like they were trying to act cheerful. Sirius noticed that but swept it under the rug, blaming his dulled senses for making him imagine things instead.

"Since Sirius is cut off from most news sources, and Remus was busy with his work in the muggle world until just recently, I think it's better if you two read this first. We will answer your questions and discuss our direction later," Dumbledore pulled a Daily Prophet issue from inside his colorful robe and placed it on the table between them. With trembling fingers, Sirius picked up the paper. The date printed there told him that it was an issue from the previous day.

Next to him, Remus also leaned in to take a closer look. It didn't take them anytime at all to find what Dumbledore was implying, since that article was printed right on the first page, with a picture taken inside the arena of the Triwizard's first task. From what Sirius could see, Madam Pomfrey and several Aurors were carrying a stretcher with a white haired boy on it. It was impossible to judge what kind of wound the boy received, but it was nasty, given the amount of blood splattered around.

The title said: _"SHOCKING NEWS: Archer's arrest. Is The-Boy-Who-Lived really the mysterious vigilante?"_

"This...This is not true, right?" After finished reading the article, Remus looked at Dumbledore and asked, his faced was now having an ashen color. Sirius, on the other hand, still wasn't able to take his eyes off of the paper, as if he was saying to himself that its content would change if he glared at it long enough.

"Sadly, it's true," Dumbledore said.

"But… No matter how you look at it, that boy isn't Harry," Remus stuttered. His eyes dashed back to the news picture. "White hair. Well… The style is similar, but his build is different too. For all of this happened in four mere months is a little…"

"I'm sorry, but I can't really provide a satisfying answer at this point," Dumbledore sighed. "Myself, Severus, Minerva, and all other Hogwarts staff have been keeping a close eyes on him for awhile. We have had a staff meeting before coming here, and everyone agreed that Archer isn't Harry Potter. The time of the switch is unknown. However, according to Molly and Arthur, he started behaving strangely around the time he was with their family."

"I never really cared about it, but in hindsight, a lot of changes occurred that doesn't fit the Harry we all know," Arthur sighed. Next to him, Molly looked like she was about to cry. "He got rid of the glasses and started reading all kind of books. He also didn't show an interest toward Quidditch anymore. Molly and I discussed about it once, but we just chalked it up as teenage's changes…"

"He...He was such a good boy too," Molly added. "We all know that Archer's dangerous now. But during his stay, if that really was him, he always tried to help with the houseworks and all. We never suspected him in any way."

"Nobody would have suspected anything, dear Molly," Professor McGonagall, patted the Weasley matron on her shoulder.

"Indeed," Dumbledore nodded. "With all the information, we can guess that Harry had been switched out before coming to the Burrow. In addition, we all know that Archer uses strange magic, but I'm confident about my protections around the house of Harry's relatives. He can't be touched there, which makes the most likely timeframe is from the moment he got on the train last term, until before he arrived at Number Four, Privet Drive."

"Sounds probable," Remus sighed. "But what good is that going to do? Harry has been missing for months already. I hope the DMLE will be able to get some words out of him."

"I doubt it," Snape snorted.

"And why is that, Severus?" Remus glared at him.

"Mark my word, that brat isn't going to be in DMLE's hand for long."

"I have to agree," Dumbledore said quickly. Good timing too, since Sirius almost jumped up from where he was sitting toward the greasy haired bat. "Archer wield a power that is unimaginable for us. To make it even worse, he isn't alone. At this point I can conclude that at least Adam Greengrass is working with him."

Arthur and Molly nodded silently.

"Greengrass," Remus frowned. "Flashy fellow, but that's about everything that I can remember about him. Do you think that he has something to do with Harry's disappearance?"

"We don't know," Dumbledore said. "He's rather difficult to catch, so I haven't been able to secure a private conversation with him yet."

"Private?" Sirius had had enough. Apparently staring at the newspaper didn't change anything. He glared at Dumbledore and almost shouted. "He's working with Archer, he must know something about Harry. Why can't you just barge into his house and demand him to spill everything?"

"And how will that achieve anything, you dumb mutt?" Snape sneered. "The DMLE will be all over us if we do something like that. If you want it that much, go there by yourself. I'm sure that Amelia Bones would love to see her ex-lover again."

"Shut up you bastard," Sirius shouted at the man and pulled out his wand. The other party was all too glad to do the same.

"That's quite enough, Severus," Dumbledore, seeing the situation could get out of hand, sent Snape a stern look. "You calm down too, Sirius. While it can be worded better, he has a point. There's no conclusive proof that Mister Greengrass and Archer are working together. Even if there is, we can't really tell if he has any hand in Harry's circumstance."

"But he's our only lead. Push him enough and he will talk," Sirius retorted. He then looked around the table, trying to find some cooperation. However, all he saw were people shaking their heads in silence.

"Fine, fine," finally, he raised his hands. "But how about you, Dumbledore? Why didn't you do anything about Archer when he was in your grasp? Having professors keep an eyes on him is not enough. You're the most powerful wizard of our age. Why didn't you confront him why you still could?"

"Calm down, Sirius," Remus pulled on his sleeve.

"No, Remus, you can't tell me to fucking calm down right now," Sirius grunted. "Harry's my godson. He's your best mate's child. How can you be calm when he's in danger?"

"Pretty words, but aren't you the one who failed to be with him in the first place?" Severus's voice came once again. It struck Sirius hard, that for a moment, all he could see was the blurry image of his surrounding.

"That's…" Sirius's eyes widened. Since those words came from his hated rival, he wanted to retort, but he couldn't. It was painful to admit, but Snape was _right_. It only served to inflate the guilt in his chest until it became unbearable.

"I...I think I need a rest," he murmured, wiping of the sweats on his forehead. Sirius then unsteadily left the dining room.

"I'll go with him," Remus stood up and followed his best friend. The other people in the room looked at them until they were out of sight.

"That was unnecessary, Severus," McGonagall glared at her colleague.

"I was just telling the truth. It's better than him having his own delusion and started blaming everyone for his own incompetence," Snape shrugged.

"It may be so, but Sirius's mind is not stable. Choose your word more carefully in the future," Dumbledore frowned. "It's better to let him rest for now. Once Remus come back, we will begin with the second part of our meeting."

And so they waited. Around half an hour later, Remus finally returned. The man was clearly depressed and even more exhausted than before.

"Sorry, I had to fix up his room a little," he sighed. "Sirius's resting for now, but he just kept crying and murmuring that it was all his fault on the way up. Maybe we should bring him some Calming Draught and Sleeping potions later."

"I'll see to that," Molly nodded.

"Alright. Now, if you please take a seat, Remus, we will continue the meeting…" Dumbledore started speaking. However, he was interrupted by loud footsteps in the hallway, which finally ended in the sound of the front door being slammed shut.

"What?" Remus quickly turned around and rush out of the room. The others soon followed him after a moment of shock. They reached the front door at the same time Remus walked downstairs again.

"He...He left," the werewolf said with trembling voice. "I should have stayed behind…"

"It's not your fault, Remus," Arthur said. While his voice sounded perfectly calm, it was obvious that he was also shaken by the sudden turn of event.

* * *

Auror Nymphadora 'Just' Tonks was standing guard outside of a special holding cell in the Ministry. While the cell itself was nothing remarkable compared to the ones beside it, the person it was holding inside, however, was nothing like she'd seen, or even heard of, before.

Archer - The mysterious vigilante whose first recorded appearance was roughly four months ago. Since then, the rumor, as well as the mist surrounding that man keep getting larger and more ridiculous. Charmed arrows that could petrify people, an inhuman speed and strength enough to go against Daywalkers, Shield Charm that managed to block Dragon's fire. The bloke then even slew said dragon single-handedly, a feat that was never heard of.

If Tonks hadn't been able to witness those feats with her own eyes, she probably would have dismissed them as baseless rumors. For the Aurors to be able to capture someone like Archer, it was thanks to an anonymous tip that they received four days ago.

_"Archer will show up at the Triwizard's first task with his guard down. You will be able to get him there."_

That was all it said.

Now in hindsight, it was a very vague message, and if it turned out to be false information, the DMLE would no doubt become a joke at the Ministry. Still, the pressure from the top to capture Archer at all cost forced them to take action.

_But...What kind of person would put the Imperius on a child to do his bidding? _Just the thought of that made Tonks frown in disgust. It didn't take a genius to know that the owner of that message didn't help them out of goodwill, but simply used them to remove Archer from whatever play they were taking part in. It benefited the DMLE, but the method used clearly belonged to a Dark Wizard. It was a vexing feeling, to be indebted to someone like that.

And then there was Archer himself.

No one knew where that name, as well as the man himself came from. According to the reports, he'd never told anyone to call him like that. It all started from a rumor somewhere and just stuck. Though Tonks had to admit, it rather suited him, who prefered to use bow and arrows instead of wands. It was obvious that he had the ability to do wanded magic, so at the moment, it was safe to assume that Archer was human, or at least a mixed blood of some kind.

_Who are you? What's your real name? What's your motive? Are you with us or against us? Where in Merlin's name is Harry Potter? Are you him? _Those questions keep swirling inside the young Auror's head. Despite what they showed publicity, a lot of people in DMLE were actually sympathetic toward Archer. While according to the law, they couldn't condone the act of vigilante, but at least, they could recognize what he'd done. If Archer hadn't shown up like he did in those occasions…

Tonks shivered as she imagined the result.

_It would be nice if the man could actually answer those questions, _she sighed. It'd been three days since Archer's arrest at Hogwarts. They'd treated his wounds and transferred him back to this holding cell immediately afterward. However, everything was done while he was still unconscious. While Madam Bones had already ordered to have a pair of magic suppressing handcuffs to be placed on his wrists, there was no guarantee that they would work, seeing how differently Archer used magic. To be safe, her boss also ordered to dose him with sleeping potion, until they could be certain that he was harmless.

Thus, Archer wasn't in a state to answer any question now. It was frustrating, but understandable at the same time. If he unleashed his unknown magic like he did on that dragon, there was no way they could contain him.

"Auror Tonks," the voice of her boss - Amelia Bones - pulled Tonks out of her musing. She looked up and saw the other woman approaching with her ever-present stern expression on her face.

"Boss," Tonks replied, straightening her back.

"How's our prisoner?" Madam Bones gave her a nod.

"As expected, he still hasn't woken up yet. Other than that, everything is fine."

"Good," the other woman said. "Can you please fetch me Shacklebolt and Dawlish? Bring them here. We're going to wake that Archer up."

"Now? Wake him?" Tonks' eyes widened. "Are you sure it's safe to…"

"Even if we let him sleep forever, we can never be sure," Madam Bones shook her head. "From what we've seen of Archer, he's a rather reasonable fellow, or at least I hope so. I've convinced Minister Fudge to let us wake him for questioning."

"Is that so?" Tonks glanced nervously at the cell behind her. "If that's your judgement, boss, then we will trust you. I'll bring Shacklebolt and Dawlish right away."

"Please do."

Giving her boss a nod, Tonks then left as quickly as she could without running. Archer was finally waking up and they would get the answers they wanted. It made her both nervous and excited at the same time.

However, what the young Auror didn't expect was that, the moment the lift that she was inside ascended, Madam Bones opened the cell she had been guarding and stepped inside.

"Hello, Harry," she said in a playful tone that clearly didn't belong to the Head of DMLE. "Not very good weather today, isn't it? The sky is so grey, I hope it wouldn't rain."

"Agreed, I prefer sunny days myself," Archer, who had been lying on the bed snapped his eyes open and sat up, stretching his arms. "What took you so long? Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be asleep for the majority of the day?"

"Be more considerate," the woman chided gently. "Things like these take time to plan. We don't mount a prison break from the heart of the Ministry everyday, you know."

"I know," Archer sighed and stood up. "It's just insanely boring in here. Give her my thanks, won't you?"

"Of course," she nodded. "Let's go. I'll pretend to bring you in for a hearing in 'my' office, so just follow me. I have all of your stuff here, clothes, and a wand. Anything missing?"

"Nothing. After you," Archer shook his head and signaled toward the door.

"And before I forget, how are those cuffs?"

"These?" Archer lifted his cuffed wrists. "'They weaken my magic, but I can still use it."

That was to say 'I'm not helpless, so don't try anything funny'. The woman understood the message clearly. Archer didn't trust her. And while he could escape on his own if he so chose, Archer wanted to keep the commotion down as much as possible until after he was out of sight, which was the only reason for him to accept her proposal.

_He dislikes needless bloodshed, _she thought. _Well, not a bad trait to have._

"Understood," finally she said. "I'll get them off of you once we're outside. There will be a lot of guards along our way, so don't act suspicious."

Around fifteen minutes later, the Ministry was flung into chaos. The moment Auror Tonks found Shacklebolt and Dawlish sitting in the DMLE Head office, with none other than Madam Bones herself, she knew that they'd been tricked. The four of them rushed back to the holding cells only to see the door on Archer's one was hanging wide open.

The vigilante had once again escaped their grasp.

**End of Chapter 20.**


End file.
